ADAPPT, Reading Pnnylvania
GEODec 20,
2017 readingeagle.com Overdose deaths spark changes at ADAPPT halfway house in ReadingFollowing a series of Reading Eagle stories about eight overdose deaths
among residents of the ADAPPT halfway house, the state Department of
Corrections said it was making extensive physical changes and exploring
options for the facility. Separately, the House Judiciary Committee
scheduled a hearing on the issue for Jan. 25 in Berks County. The
department on Tuesday said the ongoing changes include the pending
installation of a full-body scanner, additional urine tests and K-9
searches, and potential changes to windows and doors. The goal is to reduce
the number of overdoses and prevent contraband from entering the facility.
State Rep. Barry Jozwiak, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday
that the hearing was triggered by the newspaper stories and would take
place at Reading Regional Airport on Jan. 25 at 10 a.m. Meanwhile, the
newspaper received information from corrections that showed the Florida
for-profit company that runs ADAPPT was paid more than $7.6 million in
public money during a 15-month period ending in October. Seven people died
during that time. The money went to GEO Group, a New York Stock
Exchange-listed company whose chairman, George Zoley, made $5.2 million
last year. The company declined to say how much of the $7.6 million was
profit. Monica Hook, a GEO vice president, asked about ADAPPT's
profitability, said, “Facility-based financial information is competitive
in nature so we have always considered it proprietary.” Donna Kleedorfer,
whose son died inside ADAPPT last year, could not believe the size of the
payments. “I would like to see where the money is going,” she said. “What
are they doing with it? Because what my son said about the conditions in
there, that's no $7.6 million operation.” A newspaper story published Nov.
12 told of the eight overdose deaths — the first occurring on May 30, 2016
— among residents of ADAPPT, described by residents, parents and employees
as drug-infested and loose with security. The newspaper determined ADAPPT
had the worst fatal overdose record among 55 state-supervised halfway
houses. Those who died while living at ADAPPT were Barton Weikel Jr.,
Matthew Kleedorfer, Tracy Ulrich, James Leeroy Davis, Matthew Santamouris,
Matthew Feldbaum and Denise Ziagos. The newspaper was unable to reach
relatives of the eighth victim. He died May 6 after getting a pass to leave
the facility and overdosing several blocks away. Jozwiak said the planned
hearing would focus on the safety of individuals in corrections' halfway
houses. Other hearings in other parts of the state might follow, said
Jozwiak, a Bern Township Republican. “The Pennsylvania Department of
Corrections, along with the Board of Probation and Parole, supervises 55
halfway houses around the state,” the official announcement of the hearing
said. “Oversight of these facilities has been questioned due to recent
reports of individuals overdosing in and around facilities.” GEO Group
claims in press materials to be the world's leading provider of diversified
correctional, detention, community reentry, and electronic monitoring
services to government agencies. It reported $2.2 billion in revenue in
2016. GEO acquired ADAPPT in April when it purchased Community Education
Centers. GEO assumed a pre-existing contract between Community Education
Centers and the state that dated to July 1, 2013. It covered ADAPPT and
other halfway houses. The contract shows GEO gets $65.87 per day per
offender housed in the group home at ADAPPT. It receives $107.50 per day
per offender housed in ADAPPT's specialized drug and alcohol unit. Total
state payments for ADAPPT under the contract escalated from $3.7 million in
fiscal 2014 to nearly $6 million in fiscal 2017. When the 2017 payments are
added to those for the first three months of fiscal 2018 — framing the
15-month period when seven residents died of overdoses — the total is $7.6
million. “That is outrageous for the job they are doing,” Christine Ulrich,
a former Wernersville resident who lives in Conway, S.C., said when she was
told the payment level. Her daughter, Tracy Ulrich, was living at ADAPPT in
June when she died of a heroin and fentanyl overdose. “It's a dump,”
Christine Ulrich said. State Sen. Judy Schwank said she wanted a change in
leadership at ADAPPT. She wrote a letter to Corrections Secretary John
Wetzel that said her concerns have grown in the wake of the articles as she
has spoken to ADAPPT administrators, residents and families. “My biggest
concern is how its managed,” she said in an interview. The director of
ADAPPT, Michael Critchosin, could not be reached for comment. Schwank, a
Ruscombmanor Township Democrat, said she expected to meet with corrections
officials in early January. GEO Group has become part of the conversation
as Berks County commissioners ponder the future of the 84-year-old county
prison, now run by the county. Commissioners this summer toured a prison in
Delaware County run by GEO, and privatization has been suggested as one
option for the Berks facility. State Rep. Mark Gillen, a former corrections
officer who paid an unannounced visit to ADAPPT shortly after the first
story was published, questioned GEO's priorities. Besides the $5
million-plus compensation package given to the chairman, Gillen said GEO
has four vice presidents who receive more than $1 million each in
compensation. “If we can find a way to run the country with one vice
president, maybe they can figure out a way to do it at GEO Group,” he said.
“Somehow they are managing to accrue profits that end up in the paychecks
of very wealthy people.”August 21, 2017 readingeagle.comReading halfway house a heroin horror storyAs he approaches his 40th birthday, longtime heroin abuser and repeat
criminal offender Ryan Spangler has gained the mental clarity he believes
could launch him into a new and drug-free lifestyle.The problem, he says,
is that people keep overdosing on drugs right where he lives. Spangler
lives at ADAPPT, a halfway house on Walnut Street whose operation is funded
by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.A 32-year-old Scranton man died of a
suspected drug overdose there early Aug. 12, according to Berks County
Coroner Dennis J. Hess. If toxicology tests confirm it as a drug death, it
would be the third fatal overdose at ADAPPT in eight weeks and the fifth in
15 months. Coroner's records also show a sixth ADAPPT resident died May 6
after he overdosed on fentanyl and morphine at a public library in Reading.
"It angers me," said Spangler. "I don't understand how a
facility that is meant to help people has had so many deaths." He and
other current and former ADAPPT residents told the Reading Eagle drug use
is a regular occurrence at the facility. They said their own attempts to
stay drug-free are compromised by seeing others use drugs at ADAPPT.
Another current ADAPPT resident who did not want to be identified said she
recently shot up heroin in bathrooms there. The father of yet another resident
said he complained repeatedly to ADAPPT managers and to the state about his
daughter's exposure to drug use there. Tammy Lutecki, who finished a stint
at ADAPPT last month, said there was a tumult at the facility June 26. The
noise, Lutecki said, was focused on a heroin-abusing woman whose syringes
had been found in a toilet in ADAPPT three days earlier. Lutecki said,
"We woke up to some of the workers screaming, 'Oh my God, she's
dead!'. ADAPPT is one of 47 halfway houses overseen by the Pennsylvania
Department of Corrections. They allow people coming out of prisons to
re-enter society by taking on jobs and educational courses while living in
monitored facilities. Thirty-five of them, including ADAPPT, are run by
contractors hired by the state. "Any death is one too many, so our
fight against this opioid epidemic and our work to keep our facilities drug
free will never end," corrections spokeswoman Susan McNaughton wrote
in an email in response to written questions. The worsening drug crisis took
4,642 lives in Pennsylvania during 2016, an increase of 37 percent from the
previous year. McNaughton said the department's halfway houses are not
exempt from the opioid drug crisis. Corrections has placed naloxone, a
medicine that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, in all
facilities. It also has a medication-assisted treatment program underway to
help drug abusers, McNaughton said, and it works to stay up to date on the
latest drugs that are being abused in an effort to educate its staff.
"It is through this education that we all work together to help put a
dent in this epidemic," she said. District Attorney John T. Adams said
the deaths at ADAPPT - as well as an increasing number of drug overdoses at
the Wernersville Community Corrections Center in South Heidelberg Township
- are troubling. "It is indicative of a problem I am seeing in our
population that is paroled from state prisons," he said. "These
facilities should be maintaining some sort of security protocols to prevent
drugs in the facility." Until recently, ADAPPT was owned by New
Jersey-based Community Education Centers. Under its Department of
Corrections contract - which involved many CEC facilities in Pennsylvania,
not just ADAPPT - the company was paid more than $71 million for services provided
in fiscal years 2013, 2014 and 2015, according to data provided by the
corrections department. In April, Community Education Centers was acquired
by GEO Group, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based public company whose shares are
listed on the New York Stock Exchange. McNaughton said GEO assumed the
contract the department had with Community Education Centers and payment
rates remained the same. A spokeswoman at ADAPPT in Reading referred
questions about the deaths there to GEO's headquarters. On Friday, the company
provided a written statement that read: "We are aware of the opioid
crisis and take these disturbing incidents very seriously, however our
facilities are not immune to this reality. Inside community-based re-entry
settings and throughout the community, addiction is a serious threat for
many individuals in our care." Since it acquired the CEC facilities,
the statement read, GEO has worked to evaluate and enhance security and
staff training, and to make sure residents can access evidence-based rehabilitation
programs to treat substance abuse problems. GEO logged more than $2.1
billion in revenue in 2016. A press release said its acquisition of CEC
would increase revenue by about $250 million a year. Documents filed with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed that GEO's chairman and
founder, George C. Zoley, received compensation of $5.2 million in 2016.
McNaughton said the agency was working to respond to newspaper requests for
data on fatal drug overdoses in other halfway houses overseen by the state.
Dr. David Moylan, Schuylkill County coroner, said he knew of no fatal
overdoses at the two halfway houses in that county, Conewago Pottsville and
Gaudenzia New Destiny. Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim said none had
occurred at Keenan House, a halfway house there. Corresponding information
was not immediately available from the coroner's office in Chester County,
which also has a state-sanctioned halfway houses. Hess, the Berks coroner,
said the ADAPPT overdoses were not surprising because the population has a
lot of criminal offenders with drug problems. Even if the suspected drug
death on Aug. 12 is confirmed by toxicology test results, Hess said the
total of five in a 15-month stretch was not overly large. "I don't
think anybody there is to blame," he said. Dr. Edward Latessa,
director and professor at the School of Criminal Justice at the University
of Cincinnati, said halfway house programs typically do not have high
mortality rates. At the same time, he said, Pennsylvania, like Ohio, has
been hard-hit by the opioid drug crisis. The situation at ADAPPT, he said,
sounded terrible for individuals who were trying to stay drug-free. But he
could not say whether the number of fatal overdoses at ADAPPT was excessive
in comparison to other facilities. He said: "Halfway houses are not
secure. People go out during the day." Spangler's criminal record
includes guilty pleas to retail theft, theft by deception, charges
associated with credit card fraud, and drug possession. "Everything I
have stolen was to get high," he said. He turns 40 in about three
weeks. He has been injecting heroin intermittently since he was 17. He has
two children. In the last few months, he has started receiving shots of
Vivitrol, a medicine that can negate the cravings for opioid drugs like
heroin. He said his mind has cleared, his judgment has improved and he has
lost the desire to get high. "This shot has completely changed the way
I think," he said. "I have a clear head. I have goals. I have the
motivation to achieve them." Spangler acknowledged he was speaking
publicly about a situation that some would prefer remain private. "I
don't want retribution and to be sent back to prison," he said.
"But I want the truth out."
Adelanto ICE Processing Center, Adelanto City,
California
Adelanto City, California
GEO GroupOct 10, 2018 dailycaller.comPRIVATE IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTER SAYS IT HAS
ALREADY FIXED PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED IN WATCHDOG REPORTGEO Group, the operator of an immigration detention
center in California, says it moved to address problems identified in a
surprise government inspection well before they were detailed in a report
released in early October. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of
Inspector General found several deficiencies in its May inspection of the
Adelanto ICE Processing Center, including inadequate medical care and
improper use of restricted housing. In a letter to ICE officials,
Adelanto’s warden said the facility took action as soon as the problems
were noted and had corrected the issues by early September. A privately
owned immigration detention center in California says it had fixed problems
identified in a surprise government inspection by early September, nearly a
month before the results of the inspection were released to the public.
Inspectors with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector
General (DHS-OIG) conducted an unannounced inspection of the Adelanto ICE
Processing Center in May. The OIG’s findings, which included allegations of
inadequate medical care and inappropriate use of solitary confinement, were
published Oct. 2 in a memo that sparked outrage among immigration activists
and civil rights groups. (RELATED: Watchdog Finds Hanging ‘Nooses,’ Lack Of
Medical Care At ICE Detention Facility). But GEO Group, the owner and
operator of the Adelanto center, disputed some of the problems noted by OIG
auditors and said it took corrective action on others as soon as they were
identified. “We take the findings outlined by the Department of Homeland
Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) regarding the Adelanto ICE
Processing Center very seriously,” company spokesman Pablo Paez said in a
statement. “While we believe that a number of the findings lacked
appropriate context or were based on incomplete information, we have
already taken steps to remedy areas where our processes fell short of our
commitment to high-quality care.” GEO Group, one of the country’s largest
operators of private prisons and immigration detention centers, bought the
Adelanto facility in 2010 and began housing ICE detainees there the
following year. Today, Adelanto houses about 1,700 detainees, making it the
largest immigration detention facility in California. DHS-OIG’s surprise
inspection of the facility turned up three issues the watchdog said were
“significant threats” to detainee health and safety. Inspectors discovered
braided bed sheets — referred to as “nooses” by staff — hanging in several
inmates’ cells, even though detainees had previously used similar sheets in
suicide attempts. Additionally, inspectors determined that detainees were
being prematurely placed in disciplinary segregation before they were found
guilty of a rule violation and were not given “timely and adequate” medical
care — both violations of ICE national detention standards. In some cases,
detainees had to wait years for basic dental care, leading to tooth loss
and “unnecessary extractions,” the OIG report stated. Adelanto managers
took steps to correct the problems immediately after the inspection,
according to a letter from warden James Janecka to ICE officials obtained
by The Daily Caller News Foundation. In the letter dated Sept. 6, Janecka
noted that detainees often used the braided bed sheets as privacy barriers
between cell beds and toilets, but added that he had instructed staff to
remove “any improvised curtains or any other visual obstructions.” With
respect to the improper use of disciplinary segregation at Adelanto,
Janecka conceded that detainees had been placed in the center’s restricted
housing section while their cases were still in pending status. He said the
mistakes were the result of delays in putting disciplinary records into
detainees’ files, leading to confusion about whether inmates met the
threshold for restricted housing. Under a corrective action plan
implemented in May, “timelines will be met, and each detainee’s status in
the disciplinary process will be readily discernible,” Janecka wrote. As
for concerns about inadequate medical and dental care, GEO Group says it is
conducting a review with its medical services subcontractor “to ensure all
medical and dental care is provided at the highest quality and in a timely
manner, and to hold accountable those who are not meeting these
expectations.”As of Sept. 6, there was no longer a backlog for dental
cleaning at Adelanto, Janecka said.Oct 3, 2018 latimes.com Nooses in cells, rotting teeth — report details harsh conditions at
Adelanto immigration facilityA Nicaraguan man who was detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center
died in March 2017 after he was found hanging in his cell from his
bedsheets. Not long after, two other detainees also used sheets in an
attempt to hang themselves. When federal officials arrived in May of this
year for a surprise inspection of the privately run immigration detention
facility, they found nooses made from bedsheets in 15 of 20 cells. “When we
asked two contract guards who oversaw the housing units why they did not
remove the bedsheets, they echoed it was not a high priority,” officials
with the Department of Homeland Security inspector general’s office wrote
in a scathing report made public Tuesday detailing dangerous conditions
found at the facility during their unannounced visit. The nooses are just
one of many problems posing “significant health and safety risks”
identified by federal inspectors at Adelanto, which can house nearly 2,000
detainees as they await the outcome of their immigration cases Detainees
reported waiting “weeks and months” to see a doctor, and inspectors met
with a dentist who dismissed the necessity of fillings, and suggested that
detainees use string from their socks to floss, the report said. Inspectors
also said they found that detainees were commonly subjected to disciplinary
segregation before being found guilty of violating rules. The report is the
latest from government inspectors to document significant deficiencies at
Adelanto since it opened in 2011. It comes one year after immigrant
advocates raised alarms about conditions at the facility following the
deaths of three detainees in a three-month period in 2017. The Times
reported in August 2017 that there had been at least five attempted
suicides at the facility in less than one year, according to a review of
911 calls. Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, said in a statement that immigration officials take the
findings seriously and have “agreed to conduct a full and immediate review
of the center to ensure compliance with detention standards and expedite
necessary corrective actions.” Tens of thousands of ICE detainees have
passed through the Adelanto facility since it opened seven years ago. It is
owned and operated by the GEO Group, which runs dozens of private prisons
and detention centers around the country. Among those held in the facility
are asylum seekers, people caught in immigration sweeps and those
identified by authorities as potentially deportable after landing in jail.
Some detainees arrive at the facility soon after crossing the border;
others after having lived in the U.S. for decades. They can stay in
detention for months, and in some cases years, as their cases are decided.
Pablo Paez, a spokesman for GEO Group, referred questions about the
inspector general's report to ICE. According to the report, in the months
after Osmar Epifanio Gonzalez-Gadba, 32, of Nicaragua was found hanging
from bedsheets in his cell and later died, ICE compliance reports
documented at least three suicide attempts by hanging at Adelanto, two of
which specifically used bedsheets. Still, when inspectors visited the
facility, they found braided sheets that both staff and detainees referred
to as nooses hanging from the vents in 15 of the approximately 20 male
detainee cells that they visited in four housing units. The guard who
escorted the inspectors began removing the nooses but stopped after
realizing how many there were, the report says. Some detainees said they
use the unfurled sheets for privacy, while others said they used them as
clotheslines. One detainee, however, told inspectors that he had seen “a
few attempted suicides using the braided sheets by the vents.” “The guards
laugh at them and call them ‘suicide failures’ once they are back from
medical,” the detainee told officials. Inspectors also found during their
visit that all 14 detainees who were in disciplinary segregation at the
time were put there before being found guilty of a prohibited act or rule
violation. And though ICE standards require face-to-face medical
assessments of all detainees in segregation at least once a day, inspectors
observed two doctors in the unit stamping their name on detainee records
outside their cells “without having any contact with 10 of the 14 detainees
in disciplinary segregation." The report also notes that some
detainees reported waiting “weeks and months” to see a doctor and said that
appointments were canceled without explanation, with detainees placed back
on the waiting list. From November 2017 to April 2018, detainees filed 80
medical grievances with the facility for not receiving urgent care, not
being seen for months for persistent health conditions and not receiving
prescribed medication, according to the report. Inspectors also highlighted
serious problems with dental care at the facility, saying detainees are
placed on wait lists for months and, sometimes, years to receive basic
care, “resulting in tooth loss and unnecessary extractions in some cases.”
No detainees have received fillings in the last four years, according to
the report. One detainee reported multiple teeth falling out while waiting
more than two years for cavities to be filled. One dentist at the facility
told inspectors he did not have time to complete cleanings or fillings,
according to the report. “The dentist dismissed the necessity of fillings
if patients commit to brushing and flossing,” the report states. “Floss is
only available through detainee commissary accounts, but the dentist
suggested detainees could use string from their socks to floss if they were
dedicated to dental hygiene.” This is not the first time government
inspectors have noted problems — often related to medical care — at the
Adelanto facility. An annual review in November 2011 found that
"medical officials were not conducting detainee health appraisals
within 14 days of arrival,” and nurses were performing health assessments
without proper training or certification. A 2012 report by ICE's Office of
Detention Oversight found that many requests for medical care were delayed.
That report also said the death of detainee Fernando Dominguez Valdivia in
March of that year followed "egregious errors" by medical staff
and that a review found it could have been prevented. A report on the 2015
death of Raul Ernesto Morales-Ramos, also prepared by the Office of
Detention Oversight, said Adelanto failed to provide Morales-Ramos with
timely and comprehensive medical care, among other lapses. More recently,
the Office of Detention Oversight’s review of Gonzalez-Gadba’s 2017 suicide
also faulted Adelanto for failing to meet national standards. That report
said that in the days before his death, Gonzalez-Gadba reported he had been
sexually assaulted at Adelanto, but medical staff did not conduct a medical
assessment in response to that allegation. It also said that guards failed
to check on Gonzalez-Gadba, who was being held in segregated housing, at
least every 30 minutes, as required. He was found hanging in his cell 37
minutes after an officer’s last logged security round, according to the
review. In its report, the inspector general’s office also noted the
medical care deficiencies that were found at Adelanto following the deaths
of detainees and urged immigration officials to fix the problems. "ICE
must take these continuing violations seriously and address them
immediately," the report says. Haley, the ICE spokeswoman, said a
contracted inspection firm is scheduled to inspect Adelanto again this
month. "Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment
detainees arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay," she said.
Speaking about the nooses, she said "ICE recognizes that this can
present a dangerous safety vulnerability and will intensify efforts to
address this issue."
Jul 15, 2017 vvdailypress.com Adelanto Detention Facility barred from expanding for another decadeADELANTO — The Adelanto Detention Facility will be barred from
expansion for the next decade, thanks to a recent moratorium passed by
state legislators. California’s budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year, which
began July 1, included an action that targets the federal immigration
crackdown by requiring that the state attorney general review each county,
local or private detention facility where noncitizens are being held. The
action also blocks counties and municipalities from signing new contracts
or expanding existing contracts to detain immigrants, according to a report
from the Associated Press. “The bill isn’t shutting down any centers, but
it is preventing the Trump administration from expanding and entrenching
immigration detention centers further,” Community Initiatives for Visiting
Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC) co-founder/co-executive director
Christina Fialho said. The Adelanto Detention Facility, privately operated
by the GEO group, contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) to house federal immigration detainees. According to Fialho, the new
bill bars city officials from modifying their contract with ICE and the GEO
group to expand the detention facility for 10 years. The bill also earmarks
$1 million a year for the Attorney General’s office to monitor immigration
detention centers in the state, the first law in the country that gives a
state agency the power to monitor federal immigration facilities, Fialho
said. “Basically, it’s going to ensure that people in immigration detention
are treated humanely,” Fialho said. CIVIC and other advocacy groups have
regularly called upon ICE and GEO officials to make changes at the
facility, citing detainee deaths and poor conditions, according to a
previous Daily Press report. While ICE officials declined to directly
comment on the bill and CIVIC’s statement, they explained that the agency
uses a variety of facilities — including federal, state, local and
contractor-owned facilities — across the country to house detainees in an
effort to curb costs. The new bill would hinder these efforts while failing
to curb immigration detention, they suggested. “Placing limitations on
ICE’s detention options here in California won’t prevent the agency from
detaining immigration violators,” ICE officials said in a statement. “It
will simply mean ICE will have to transfer individuals encountered in
California to detention facilities outside the state, at a greater distance
from their family, friends, and legal representatives.” ICE officials said
the agency seeks to house detainees within the geographical area of their
arrest “whenever possible” to reduce the need for transfers to other
facilities. This, in turn, leads to lower costs and shorter stays for
detainees in ICE custody, they said.

Jul 6, 2017 kqed.org/news Hunger Strike at California’s Biggest Immigration Detention CenterActivists say that more than 30 people began a hunger strike at the
Adelanto Detention Facility on Tuesday, seeking better medical care and
release pending their immigration court dates. In the last five years, six
people have died while being detained — three of them since March 27 — at
the San Bernardino County facility, the largest immigration detention
center in California. It can hold about 1,900 detainees and was almost at
capacity in March, according to data from Immigration and Customs
Enforcement. Detainees say this is the fourth hunger strike they’ve
conducted at the facility since June 12. During breakfast that morning nine
men, mostly asylum-seekers from El Salvador, linked arms and refused to
return to their cells until they could speak to guards about their
concerns. Guards used pepper spray and physically removed the men to
solitary cells, according to Tristan Call, a spokesman for the detainees,
and ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice. Then they began the hunger strike. “We
are not anyone’s toys,” said Isaac Lopez Castillo, a 27-year-old from El
Salvador, in a Facebook video about the strike. The men filed a complaint
with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and
Civil Liberties alleging that they were beaten and denied medical care and
access to their attorneys. GEO Group, the private prison company that owns
and operates the facility, is investigating the incident, and ICE officials
will review that probe, according to Kice. “The claim the men involved in
this disturbance were beaten is a gross and regrettable exaggeration,”
wrote Kice in an email. On June 14, a group of nearly 30 women refused to
eat for about 24 hours — asking for medical care, “basic respect” from jail
guards, lower bond rates and to be reunited with their families. Call said
that they ended the strike after many of the women received medical care on
June 15. Then, on June 22, eight of the same men from the June 12 action
began a new hunger strike, after one was deported. Call said that detainees
throughout the facility have refused food periodically since they began
striking on June 12. Kice says that the agency will implement hunger strike
protocols, including medical supervision, if detainees refuse food for more
than 72 hours. While the city of Adelanto holds the contract with ICE to
detain immigrants in the facility, the city also has a contract with GEO
Group to run it. Early last year, GEO Group stopped providing its own
medical care and subcontracted with Correct Care Solutions, keeping on many
of the same staff.ICE’s own investigators found
problems at the facility, including health care delays, poor record keeping
and failures to properly report sexual assaults. In a federal investigation
into one of the California deaths, inspectors noted that the person who
died had waited more than a year to see a specialist, that the high
turnover of medical staff led to inadequate care and that a dearth of
laboratory services led to delays in treatment. Independent medical experts
for Human Rights Watch analyzing ICE’s investigation found that the man
probably suffered from symptoms of cancer for two years. Detainees
are also requesting to be released on their own recognizance, on bond or to
receive a monitoring device. Immigrant detainees, including asylum-seekers,
can wait weeks, months and even years for their day in immigration court.
There are currently 326 immigration judges nationwide — and they’re
handling nearly 600,000 pending cases, according to the Department of Justice
and data from Syracuse University’s TRAC research center. Even if the
immigration courts didn’t accept a single additional case, it would take
longer than two years to go through the backlog, according to TRAC. Both
ICE and immigration judges can release people. ICE officers make an initial
determination about whether people should be detained while their
immigration cases are pending. “ICE makes such determinations on an
individual basis taking into account all facets of the person’s situation,
including the individual’s immigration history and criminal record, if
applicable. Likewise, the agency also considers an alien’s family ties, any
humanitarian issues that may be involved, and whether the person is a
potential flight risk,” wrote Kice. Detainees who have been convicted of
criminal activity are mandatorily held in detention. Currently, the U.S.
Supreme Court is set to rehear a case that could require immigration courts
to conduct bond hearings every six months. The named plaintiff in the case,
Alejandro Rodriguez, spent three years in ICE detention without a hearing
for his release. Court records analyzed by TRAC showed that at least half —
and in some years upward of two-thirds — of people are held in ICE
detention while the DHS begins court proceedings to deport them. The median
immigration bond was set at $8,000 in fiscal year 2016. About one in five
people granted bond stayed in detention, presumably because they can’t
afford it. In a statement during the first hunger strike, the men wrote that
they cannot afford bail: “We are from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.
We ask for your attention, because Adelanto is one of the prisons which
exists for those who are seeking political asylum, and in reality our
records are clean, none of us have prior criminal records. The bail is set
impossibly high, and it’s a humiliating joke because we are poor, we don’t
have that kind of money.”
Jun 13, 2017 motherjones.com Refugees In a Troubled Private Detention Center Are On Hunger StrikeUpdate (06/12/17, 10:15PM): On Monday morning, guards at the Adelanto
Detention Facility allegedly attacked nine detainees, all members of a
refugee caravan which arrived at the US-Mexico border in May. On Monday
morning, according to two of the caravan organizers, Tristan Call and Alex
Mensing, the group delivered a letter of grievances to prison officials and
demanded a meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). At that
point, say Call and Mensing, who spoke with the refugees after the
incident, guards allegedly beat the men, “drenched” them in pepper spray,
handcuffed them, and placed them in restrictive housing. It was then, ICE
claims, that members of the caravan announced their hunger strike. “They
described their shirts as literally being soaked with [pepper spray] and
were forced to shower in hot water,” which intensifies the pain, says
Mensing. “They also beat them and bashed them against a wall, knocking a
dental crown out of one of the guy’s mouth.” Call adds, “They said the
other prisoners shouted for the guards to stop but weren’t able to do
anything.” In a statement e-mailed to Mother Jones this evening, ICE
spokeswoman Virginia Kice said, “Monday morning nine detainees refused to
return to their assigned beds for the morning count, locked arms, and defied
commands to submit to mechanical restraints. After repeated efforts to
avoid confrontation, a supervisory officer used a one-second burst of
pepper spray to subdue the detainees, who immediately complied and
submitted to mechanical restraints. No officers or detainees were injured.”
The facility’s staff has now begun monitoring the strikers’ food intake.
Today, members of a refugee caravan who are seeking asylum in the United
States began a hunger strike at the Adelanto Detention Facility in Southern
California. “We will not eat until the government responds to our demands
and agrees to negotiate,” said Isaac Lopez Castillo, a 27-year-old from El
Salvador who is one of the nine refugees participating in the hunger
strike, in a statement. They are asking for better food, access to clean
water 24 hours a day, and quality medical care. “None of us have prior
criminal records,” they note. Though the hunger strike reportedly began
today at 5:30 in the morning, after speaking with Adelanto Detention Facility
staff, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman Virginia Kice
stated that “there are no detainees at that center who are on a hunger
strike.” The members of the caravan, which arrived at the US-Mexico border
in May, are from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. They fled their home
countries after being targeted by violent criminal organizations, according
to Tristan Call, an organizer with the Nashville-based immigrant rights
group Sureñxs En Acción. “Most of them have had one or more family members
murdered. A lot of them have had direct physical attacks that they survived
themselves, and they’ve had extensive death threats,” says Call, who
accompanied the caravan in Mexico and is speaking on behalf of the hunger
strikers. Under US and international law, border agents must admit asylum
seekers to evaluate whether they have “credible fear” of returning to their
home country. According to Call, at least seven of the nine hunger strikers
have undergone and passed their “credible fear” interviews, a major hurdle
before they may pursue their asylum cases outside of detention. Yet the
caravan members argue that they are being treated with “humiliation and
discrimination” at Adelanto. In addition to demanding better food and clean
water, they want new uniforms—specifically, underwear that hasn’t been used
by other detainees. The hunger strikers are complaining about unreasonable
bond amounts, which they say have been set at “impossibly high levels.” At
least one detainee’s bail was set at $20,000, says Call. “If you set a
$20,000 bond, and you’re a refugee from El Salvador coming with nothing,
there is zero chance you will be able to do that. It’s essentially similar
to the kind of extortion they were experiencing from the gangs they just
fled from: You flee for your life from a place where you’re being extorted
for tens of thousands of dollars that you can’t pay, and then you have a
similar experience with the US government.” The detainees are also asking
for better access to quality medical care at Adelanto, which is operated by
the GEO Group, the country’s largest private prison company. So far three
immigrants have died at the facility this year. In a July 2015 letter to
ICE and federal inspectors, 29 members of Congress requested an
investigation into health and safety concerns at the facility, writing that
“egregious” medical errors had caused a 2012 death there. Four months after
the letter was sent, 400 detainees began a hunger strike.

Jun 3, 2017 motherjones.comIn 3
Months, 3 Immigrants Have Died at a Private Detention Center in CaliforniaA Honduran
immigrant held at a troubled detention center in California's high desert
died Wednesday night while in the custody of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE). Vincente Caceres-Maradiaga, 46, was receiving treatment
for multiple medical conditions while waiting for an immigration court to
decide whether to deport him, according an ICE statement. He collapsed as
he was playing soccer at the detention facility and died while en route to
a local hospital. Caceres-Maradiaga's death is the latest in a string of
fatalities among detainees held at the Adelanto Detention Facility, which
is operated by the GEO Group, the country's largest private prison company.
Three people held at the facility have died in the last three months,
including Osmar Epifanio Gonzalez-Gadba, a 32-year-old Nicaraguan found
hanging in his cell on March 22, and Sergio Alonso Lopez, a Mexican man who
died of internal bleeding on April 13 after spending more than two months
in custody. Since it opened in 2011, Adelanto has faced accusations of
insufficient medical care and poor conditions. In July 2015, 29 members of
Congress sent a letter to ICE and federal inspectors requesting an
investigation into health and safety concerns at the facility. They cited
the 2012 death of Fernando Dominguez at the facility, saying it was the
result of "egregious errors" by the center's medical staff, who
did not give him proper medical examinations or allow him to receive timely
off-site treatment. In November 2015, 400 detainees began a hunger strike,
demanding better medical and dental care along with other reforms. The
federal government guarantees GEO that a minimum of 975 immigrants will be
held at the facility and pays $111 per detainee per day. Yet last year, the
city of Adelanto, acting as a middleman between ICE and GEO, made a deal to
extend the company's contract until 2021. The federal government guarantees
GEO that a minimum of 975 immigrants will be held at the facility and pays
$111 per detainee per day, according to California state Sen. Ricardo Lara
(D-Bell Gardens), who has fought to curtail private immigration detention.
After that point, ICE only has to pay $50 per detainee per day—an incentive
to fill more beds. Of California's four privately run immigration detention
centers, three use local governments as intermediaries between ICE and
private prison companies. On Tuesday, the California senate voted 26-13 to
ban such contracts, supporting a bill that could potentially close Adelanto
when its contract runs out in 2021. The Dignity Not Detention Act, authored
by Lara, would prevent local governments from signing or extending
contracts with private prison companies to detain immigrants starting in
2019. The bill would also require all in-state facilities that hold ICE
detainees, including both private detention centers and public jails, to
meet national standards for detention conditions—empowering state
prosecutors to hold detention center operators accountable for poor
conditions inside their facilities. An identical bill passed last year but
was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown. "I have been troubled by recent
reports detailing unsatisfactory conditions and limited access to counsel
in private immigration detention facilities," Brown wrote in his veto
message last September. But he deferred to the Department of Homeland
Security, which was then reviewing its use of for-profit immigration
detention. In that review, the Homeland Security Advisory Council rejected
the ongoing use of private prison companies to detain immigrants, citing
the "inferiority of the private prison model." Yet since
President Donald Trump took office, the federal government has moved to
expand private immigration detention, signing a $110 million deal with GEO
in April to build the first new immigration detention center under Trump.
Nine people have died in ICE custody in fiscal year 2017, which began
October 1. Meanwhile, private prison stocks have nearly doubled in value
since Election Day.Apr 13, 2016 scpr.org California state measure calls for end to profit-making immigrant
detention contractsA new state bill aims to stop California cities and counties from
contracting with private prison companies that detain immigrants, but the
effort is generating pushback from one locality. The high-desert prison
town of Adelanto, a city of roughly 32,000, is home to two jails and one
immigrant detention center. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
contracts with Adelanto for detention space for up to 1,455 immigrants at
$112.50 per detainee, per day. The city, in turn, contracts with The GEO
Group, a private company that runs both the Adelanto Detention Facility and
one of the city’s jails. Adelanto officials sold the building that houses
the detention center, a former state prison, to GEO in 2010. But the city
holds the contract for its operation, and receives a cut of the amount ICE
pays for the service. With the Adelanto facility's daily population
averaging roughly 1,200 and based on the per-diem rate, ICE pays up to
about $4 million a month — and more if the detention center is filled to
its 1,940-detainee capacity. But a bill sponsored by state Sen. Ricardo
Lara (D-Bell Gardens) could put an end to Adelanto's immigrant detention
contract. "For far too long, our immigration system has promoted
profits over people," Lara told KPCC. "The goal is to prohibit
these for-profit companies from profiting off the backs of
immigrants." Cities like Adelanto depend on detention space revenue.
In Adelanto, which nearly went bankrupt last year, City Council member John
“Bug” Woodard, a self-described Tea Party Republican, said the GEO
contracts are vital to the city's economy. "I think a good 25 percent
of our income comes from those jailhouses," Woodard said. "GEO is
an important part of this community, and any idiot up in Sacramento that
would like us not to do business with them, they’ve got their heads where
the sun don’t shine." Adelanto has been fighting to stave off
bankruptcy in recent years. Last year, Woodard championed a new revenue
source — an ordinance that allows medical marijuana cultivation in the
city. Proponents of Lara's detention bill say it would affect four local
governments in California that work with private detention contractors,
Adelanto included. The bill would only bar local governments from working
with for-profit detention contractors; it would not prohibit them from
contracting detention space directly to ICE, as does the Orange County
Sheriff's Department, for example. Immigration authorities have
increasingly relied on private contractors and local governments for space
to house immigrants awaiting or fighting deportation since the early 2000s,
when the detainee population exploded as a result of tighter immigration
policies. While its scope seems limited, the bill would affect many more
local-government contracts in other ways: a provision of the bill would
make it mandatory for all immigrant detention facilities in California to
comply with federal standards guidelines that are now optional. "Even
if immigrants are in public holding facilities, like say with the sheriff
or a local police station, these rules would have to be adhered to,
regardless of whether they are private or public," Lara said. The bill
would also make it easier for immigrants to sue these detention facilities
if they believe their rights are violated. The threat of lawsuits worries
the California State Sheriffs' Association, which opposes the proposal. So
does the possibility of ICE having to move detainees from private-contract
facilities affected by the bill to those that rent space directly to ICE,
as many local jails do. "Some of that workload could potentially fall
on public facilities that are already fairly overcrowded," said Cory
Salzillo, legislative director with the sheriffs' ssociation. The measure
requires approval by both houses of the California Legislature and the
governor's signature before it could take effect. The Senate Judiciary
Committee is set to hear the bill next week.Feb 4, 2016
vvdailypress.com Debate over jail location in Adelanto revivedADELANTO — A renewed debate over the location of a proposed 1,000-bed
jail could hold up a lucrative deal that one official had trumpeted as
officially erasing the city's deficit. The jail plan by private prison
operator GEO Group Inc. returned to the Planning Commission on Tuesday
night to mull GEO-requested tweaks to the development agreement. But
Planning Commissioner Chris Waggener requested the item be revisited next
month. The terms for the facility were initially approved 3-2 by the City
Council in late October even amid concerns that the jail would be situated
just about 1.5 miles from Adelanto High School. On Tuesday, Mayor Rich Kerr
revived an argument he made three months ago in opposition to the plan.
"I can assure you ... there will not be a prison next to the high
school," Kerr said. He had mistakenly believed that the agreement OK'd
in October pushed the jail to a location away from the northeast corner of
Holly and Koala roads, which is also only a half-mile from residential
housing. He and Councilman Charley Glasper shot down the plan at the time.
The Commission had recommended the Council deny the plan because of its
proximity to the school, and Commissioner Joy Jeannette on Tuesday stood firm
in that stance. "I would never vote to have the prison near the high
school," she said. Kerr added that he believed the "Council will
not bend" from forcing GEO to build the jail elsewhere, but the
assumption does not harmonize with last October's vote. Mayor Pro Tem
Jermaine Wright, Councilman Ed Camargo and Councilman John "Bug"
Woodard approved the plan back then, shifting the focus away from the
location and instead toward the extra revenue and police presence provided
by the agreement — even if the jail isn't immediately built. Proposed on
22.16 acres of land, the jail came with the condition that GEO immediately
up its yearly payment to the city from $400,000 to $963,000 and fund one
extra San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputy to patrol the streets, officials
said. If the jail is built, the financial implications grow stronger. The
annual payment will jump to $1.33 million and GEO will fund another deputy.
The company was given two years to pull a permit and afforded five
additional years worth of extensions to find a client. If the company were
to back out, the city's revenue stream and GEO-paid deputies revert to
pre-existing levels. In October, Camargo said the deal was "one
way" to increase law enforcement in the city since "nothing
(else) is knocking on the door." Saying that the deal officially
erased the city's deficit, Wright noted that the jail remained at least 3.5
years from being operational and GEO was agreeable to move it. Yet
Waggenger said Tuesday nothing had been formalized to suggest GEO would
switch locations. The company operates three correctional or immigration
complexes in the city: Desert View, Adelanto East and Adelanto West. Kerr
told the Commission he would fight the jail's venue "tooth and
nail." "I'm not going to put a bunch of cons out there to drool
out the freaking window at our young kids," he said. "It's not
going to happen."Aug 26, 2015 vvdailypress.com Immigration detainees denied attorney access, groups say

ADELANTO — Federal immigration
officials and Adelanto Detention Facility contractors over the last two
years have blocked detainee access from attorneys and other visitors who
have been critical of operations there or participated in protests,
detainee advocate groups said Tuesday. The groups made their claims in a
letter Monday to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and
Florida-based Geo Group Inc., which operates the Adelanto Detention
Facility. The letter was signed by representatives of American Civil
Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California on behalf of Community
Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC) and the Southern
Poverty Law Center, with pro bono support of law firm Sidley Austin LLP.
The letter urges ICE and Geo Group officials to "stop retaliating
against visitors who publicly criticize the U.S. immigration detention
system," or prepare to face legal action. "Over the last two
years, the Geo Group and ICE have established an unlawful pattern and
practice of denying attorney access to clients detained at the facility in
retaliation for the attorneys' participation in lawful, peaceful protests
outside of the facility," the letter reads, "in contravention of
the First Amendment's guarantee that 'debate on public issues should be
uninhibited, robust, and wide-open.'" ICE officials rebutted the
claims Tuesday, saying the agency was well aware of the importance of
ensuring detainees' access to legal counsel. "ICE is in frequent
communication with attorneys and other stakeholders regarding the operation
of its detention facilities and is continually making adjustments in
response to feedback and any concerns raised," ICE spokeswoman
Virginia Kice said in a statement. "Individuals who fail to comply
with the visitation standards applicable to a particular ICE facility may
have their visitation privileges suspended. Likewise, individuals who
misrepresent the purpose of their visit to such facilities may be denied
access." An email inquiry sent to Geo Group officials Tuesday was not
immediately answered. On Aug. 6, 2013, attorney and CIVIC co-executive
director Christina Fialho was reportedly denied access to consult with a
prospective client after participating in a peaceful vigil outside the
facility, according to Monday's letter. After a Geo officer asked her
whether she took part in the vigil, she said she had and then was told her
visitation request was denied. After challenging her denial, Fialho was
told by the officer that she was being denied because she did not have on
file a G-28, which is a notice of appearance as an attorney. But ICE
regulations allow for attorney visits with or without a G-28, the letter
said. San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies arrived soon after to
question Fialho at the request of Geo officers. Fialho was informed that
the Geo officers requested she be removed from the facility or arrested,
according to the letter. ICE officials have said, however, that Fialho and
members of CIVIC were involved in activities that violated ICE detention
standards designed to safeguard detainees' privacy. Officials acknowledged
that her visitation privileges were restored shortly afterward once the
issue was resolved. But the letter also details a reported account from
May, when Fialho was again denied access to consult with existing and
prospective clients following a vigil, despite having confirmed with a
deputy three times that the deputy had advised ICE and Geo officials of the
purpose of her visit. "As Ms. Fialho prepared to leave the facility,
she encountered other attorneys whom she knew but who had not participated
in the vigil," the letter reads. "(A)ll of them had been
permitted to visit with clients." She was then told by a Geo staff
member that she could enter the facility should the other CIVIC members and
accompanying families leave the scene. Even after they left, a Geo staff
member shut the door and locked it in Fialho's face after she attempted
multiple times to ask the staff member a question but was met with
resistance and "instructed ... to either enter the building or
leave," the letter said. The confrontation was reportedly caught on
camera. The advocacy groups are demanding ICE and Geo officials confirm in
writing by Sept. 24 that they will cease alleged retaliation and clarify
policies to reflect this vow. Advocacy groups have regularly called upon ICE
and Geo officials to make changes at the facility, citing detainee deaths
and poor conditions. But officials have pushed back against suggestions of
sub-par care, touting the amenities and liberties available to the 1,255
detainees there during a tour earlier this month.05/19/2015 huffingtonpost.com

GEO Group Whistleblower Exposes
First Amendment Violations, Lack of Officer Training, and Poor Conditions
at the Adelanto Detention CenterA former employee of GEO Group - a corporation that
operates the Adelanto Detention Center - claims First Amendment violations,
lack of proper training for GEO Group staff, extreme work hours, employee
intimidation, and overuse of solitary confinement. The former employee, who
asked to remain anonymous, recounted in a recording on file with CIVIC that
two Muslim men were put into solitary confinement for quietly saying their
daily prayers. He attributed these First Amendment violations to a complete
lack of officer training. "They are not trained for shit," he
said. "I had to learn everything on my own. They put me in a dorm and
then they said, 'Alright. Good luck. See you later.'" He cited
overcrowded conditions and a work culture that required guards to do
back-to-back 12- and 16-hour shifts, or risk being fired. Despite the lack
of training and the extreme over-time hours, he claims that he was
responsible for supervising over 100 detainees on his own. According to
him, he was warned, "If you can't handle it, you will lose your
job." He stated that GEO Group is paid a certain amount of money from
the federal government, but then GEO Group is given unbridled discretion to
"do whatever the hell they want." In his view, this is not fair
to the guards or the detainees. The Adelanto Detention Center, in San
Bernardino, California, is owned and operated by GEO Group, which contracts
with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to imprison 1,300 men
on any given day. ICE pays GEO Group up to $111 per person imprisoned at
Adelanto each day. GEO Group is one of the largest private prison
corporations in the United States. According to a compilation of federal
figures by CIVIC, GEO Group receives more taxpayer dollars than any other
ICE contractor. GEO Group's revenues climbed from $1.52 billion in 2013 to
$1.69 billion in 2014. Last year, GEO Group began operating family
immigration detention facilities that house juveniles. Yet, they
acknowledge in their most recent annual report that they are unsure whether
they can "minimize the risks and difficulties" involved in
operating juvenile correctional facilities while still "yielding an
attractive profit margin." GEO Group has been the subject of hundreds
of lawsuits, ranging from sexual battery to medical neglect to wrongful
death. In 2011, a U.S. citizen died at a GEO-run immigration detention
facility in England. A jury found that his death was in part due to medical
neglect at the Harmondsworth Removal Centre. A report on Harmondsworth by
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons in January 2014 found
"shocking cases where a sense of humanity was lost." These cases
included long periods of solitary confinement - particularly for Muslims -
and medical mismanagement. The U.K.'s Home Office ended its contract with
GEO Group that September. Back in the United States, another GEO Group
whistleblower won a wrongful termination lawsuit, after he divulged illegal
activities at a California facility, including sexual and physical assault,
fraud, and mishandled incident reports. Numerous questions about oversight
and accountability have been left unanswered by GEO Group. A government
report found that GEO Group's medical mismanagement at Adelanto directly
led to the death of at least one detainee, Fernando Dominguez, in March
2012. There also are significant questions regarding GEO Group's responsibility
in last month's death of Raul Ernesto Morales-Ramos, also at Adelanto. Last
week, the ACLU of Southern California, CIVIC, and eight other legal service
providers and human rights organizations formally voiced concerns about the
poor quality of health care offered at Adelanto. Our letter, sent directly
to ICE Director Sarah Saldaña and other government officials, describes
abhorrent accounts of medical negligence and reveals that financial costs
form a basis for medical decisions. For example, GEO Group denied a man
treatment for his severe hip infection because "it was too
expensive." The infection ultimately developed into a life-threatening
condition that required a 6-week hospitalization at an outside hospital not
affiliated with GEO Group. Despite GEO Group's embattled reputation, ICE
has announced plans to expand the available bed space at Adelanto by 640
beds, and for the first time may house women and LGBTQ individuals at the
facility. According to their annual report, GEO Group expects to generate
$21 million in additional annualized revenue from this expansion. Learn
more here and join advocates, faith leaders, people formerly detained at
Adelanto, and family members of people currently detained on Tuesday, May
19, 2015, (starting at 11 a.m.) for a vigil and press conference outside of
the Adelanto Detention Center (10400 Rancho Rd, Adelanto, CA).

Feb 28, 2014 vvdailypress.com

SAN BERNARDINO • Attorneys for
Geo Group Inc., which operates an immigration detention center in Adelanto,
were no-shows in court Tuesday as they face a medical malpractice lawsuit
brought forth by the mother of a Mexican national who died in 2012 of
complications from pneumonia. A government report following the man’s death
said “egregious errors” were made by the facility’s medical staff. Geo
Group has denied the claims levied in the suit, court records show.
Fernando Dominguez-Valivia, 58, died March 4, 2012, nearly three weeks
after he was transferred to Victor Valley Hospital from Adelanto Detention
Facility East for treatment, according to previous reports. With a criminal
record including forgery and theft, Dominguez-Valivia originally came into
ADF custody on Nov. 23, 2011, after he had been detained on unspecified
charges in the Rancho Cucamonga area, immigration officials previously
said. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security oversight committee noted in
its inspection report of the facility in September 2012 that
Dominguez-Valivia’s death was the first for the facility, but also
preventable. “The investigation disclosed several egregious errors
committed by medical staff, including failure to perform proper physical
examinations in response to symptoms and complaints, failure to pursue any
records critical to continuity of care, and failure to facilitate timely
and appropriate access to off-site treatments,” said the report,
referencing a Detainee Death Review conducted sometime after the man’s
death. The committee concluded “the detainee’s death could have been
prevented and that the detainee received an unacceptable level of medical
care while detained at ACF,” the report reads. San Bernardino County
Sheriff-Coroner spokeswoman Sandy Fatland confirmed Tuesday that
Dominguez-Valivia died naturally of multiorgan failure due to pneumonia,
but the committee also listed alcoholic liver disease and sepsis as causes
of death. On Oct. 15, Geo Group was served with the lawsuit, which listed
several plaintiffs including Dominguez-Valivia’s mother, Juana Lopez. An
attempt to reach Lopez’s attorney on Tuesday was not immediately
successful. An email address provided on the Geo Group’s website for media
inquiries could not receive emails. According to court records, the case is
scheduled to be back in court March 27.

Dec 23, 2013 The Sun

Carlos Hidalgo planned to go
Christmas tree shopping this past weekend with his two youngest children,
Lovette, 16, and Andrew, 9. “This year, it will be Andrew’s turn to buy the
tree,” Hidalgo said. Last week, Hidalgo, 46, was bracing himself for not
being with his children this Christmas. Earlier last week he was allowed to
post $10,000 bond and is now living with his parents in North Hollywood.
For about eight months, Hidalgo was an inmate at the U.S. Immigrations and
Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detention facility in Adelanto. In late November,
three female community college students were arrested at the Adelanto
facility during a protest that focused on getting Hidalgo and two other
inmates out of the privately run detention center and back with their
families for the holidays. Neidi Dominguez, program manager at the
California Youth Immigrant Justice Alliance, said the protest “was one of
many things that led to a decision” by an immigration court judge to allow
Hidalgo to post bail. “Everything played out the way it did because so many
did something to help,” she said. The other two men that the protest sought
to free remained in custody as the weekend commenced, authorities said.
Hidalgo came to the United States from El Salvador with his parents at age
11, graduated from Bell Gardens High School in 1985, attended Cerritos
College in Norwalk for a semester, got married and began working as a loan
processor for a builder and later branched out to doing investigations for
criminal and bankruptcy attorneys. He said his detention in Adelanto was
the result of an arrest for cashing a check from someone who owed him
money. As it turned out, he said, the check he attempted to cash was not
from an account belonging to the man who gave it to him. Life in the
Adelanto detention facility, run by the private company Geo Group for ICE,
is fraught with disease, he said. “Many other prisoners have obvious
illnesses including AIDS, rashes and funguses,” he said. But perhaps the
biggest concern during detention — and one shared by other inmates — is the
fear that he would be awakened in the middle of the night and sent back to
El Salvador, he said. “This has been very hard on the kids,” who also
feared that their father might suddenly be deported, he said. Hidalgo, who
did volunteer work for other Adelanto detainees, said other prisoners were
crying when he left the facility. “I see their families (in my mind). This
has got to stop,” he said. “These are people trying to make a life be
respected for the bread they earn... .America is so compassionate around the
world. Why isn’t it that way here?

Nov 27, 2013 vvdailypress.com

ADELANTO • Three young women
were arrested after they locked themselves to a chain-link fence
surrounding the GEO Group Inc. Adelanto Detention Center during a
demonstration on Monday. In May 2011, the GEO Group contracted with the
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through an intergovernmental
service agreement with Adelanto to house federal immigration detainees. San
Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Mitzie Perez, 22, of San
Dimas, Silvia Dianey Murillo, 20, of Riverside and Lizeth Montiel, 20, of
Upland on charges of trespassing and vandalism, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi
Miller said. All three women are part of the Inland Empire Immigrant Youth
Coalition, according to Miller. An estimated 50 to 100 protesters gathered
to bring attention to the conditions reported inside the facility including
allegations of abuse of detainees, inadequate food and poor medical care,
according to Fernando Romero, spokesman for the Justice for Immigrants
Coalition of Inland Southern California. “We did this action three days
before Thanksgiving on purpose,” Romero said. “The people inside the
facility won’t be going home for the holidays to spend Thanksgiving or
Christmas with their families like you and I will.” The women attached
themselves to the fence surrounding the detention facility using U-lock
bicycle locks which they placed around their necks. “The fire department
had to cut the fence to remove the women,” Miller said. “That’s where the
vandalism charge came from.” No other demonstraters were arrested, Warden
Neil Clark said. “We asked that they (Perez, Murillo and Montiel) be
removed for trespassing,” Clark said. “Other than the three who chained
themselves to the fence, it was a peaceful protest.” Approximately 25 law
enforcement officers monitored the protest and informed the group, in both
English and Spanish, that they were trespassing on private property and
they needed to disperse. All of the demonstrators, with exception of the
three women, complied, Miller said. Romero said Perez and Murillo are
undocumented and knew the risk involved in Monday’s demonstration. “The
women are sacrificing their bodies, their livelihood and exposing
themselves to separation from their families to make a point,” Romero said.
“We want to highlight the injustices ... there are a lot of people who
don’t belong there,” Romero said. “There are other solutions to detention.
We want to stop the unjust deportations.” Perez, Murillo and Montiel were
booked at the West Valley Detention Center, Miller said.

November 26, 2011 The Daily PressThe state has canceled its contract with the privately operated Desert
View Modified Community Correctional Facility, putting about 150 workers
out of a job. Desert View's contract termination officially takes effect
Wednesday, though prison employees told the Daily Press that The Geo Group
Inc. has been preparing to deactivate the prison at Rancho and Aster roads
since May. The 643-bed medium-security prison is shuttering its doors as
part of California’s realignment plan, which responds to federal orders to
reduce state prison overcrowding by shifting responsibility for tens of
thousands of low-level offenders to county governments. To help deal with
the new influx of inmates under local supervision, the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is encouraging counties to
enter into their own contracts with more than a dozen former CCFs. The CCFs
had generally housed inmates with sentences shorter than 18 months, parole
violators and offenders with scheduled release dates — the same types of
nonviolent, non-sexual or non-serious offenders now serving out sentences
in county jails instead of state prisons. “We hope that counties contract with
these facilities to save jobs and ease inmate housing concerns that many
counties may have,” CDCR spokeswoman Dana Toyama said. But San Bernardino
County Sheriff’s Department officials say they’re not planning to privatize
jail beds. The math just doesn’t pencil out, according to Sheriff’s
Department spokeswoman Cindy Bachman. “The issue with taking advantage of
private prisons or private jail facilities has come up over and over again
throughout the years; however, it’s not something that the county is
considering,” Bachman said. “It’s too costly and there’s just not the
funding really even to consider something like that.” The California State
Association of Counties has created a document outlining potential beds at
the former CCFs, but counties statewide have been hesitant to exercise that
option. The Geo Group had operated six of the nine privately run CCFs that
lost their state contracts, according to CSAC. Five other CCFs were run by
local governments. The facilities ranged from around 100 employees to more
than 600, according to Toyama.

October 11, 2011 Daily Press
State water quality control officials unnerved city leaders in January by
calling for a ban on new sewer connections in Adelanto in the name of
protecting public health. State officials had accused the city of violating
orders to bring its treatment plant into compliance, making unauthorized
wastewater discharges and exceeding its storage pond capacity. In March and
again in May, city officials managed to dodge the proposed ban — a move they
say would've halted new development, including a new housing tract by D.R.
Horton, a planned new prison facility by The Geo Group and an expansion to
the county jail. To keep the ban at bay, city officials on Wednesday will
try to convince the Lahontan Region's state water board they've made
significant progress in cleaning up their wastewater act at a meeting in
Victorville. They must prove the Adelanto Public Utilities Authority has
sufficient disposal capacity to handle current and increased wastewater
flows.

July 17, 2010 Daily Press
Some 100 city prison employees will be out of a job for at least the next
several months, since the private operator that bought the city-owned
prison for $28 million has yet to land a government contract. The employees
of the Adelanto Community Correctional Facility were officially laid off
June 4, but city officials agreed to pay them through Aug. 4, in hopes that
private prison operator GEO Group, Inc. would land a state or federal
contract and quickly rehire them. In mid-May the inmates at the 650-bed
correctional facility were transferred out, with GEO Group planning to
close it and complete renovations over the summer. Now it’s estimated the
renovations will take four to six months, Adelanto City Manager Jim Hart said.
It’s also unclear when the Florida-based operator will secure a contract
for the prison, on Rancho Road west of Highway 395. “My entire intentions
and efforts were to have it set up so that the employees would be able to
transition from city employment to GEO employment,” Hart said. “Our hope
that there wouldn’t be a gap between when they’re paid and when they get
picked up, I think, is now dwindling because it doesn’t appear that GEO
will have the renovations done in time to get opened.”

Allen
Correctional Center, Kinder, LouisianaAug 15,
2017 nola.com Nonprofit law firm sues Louisiana prison for info on who's held in
segregated housingThe MacArthur Justice Center is suing a Louisiana prison for records
that show who is being held in segregated housing, the nonprofit law firm
announced Monday (Aug. 14). The suit was filed late last week after Allen
Correctional Center, a privately-run prison that houses inmates from across
the state, allegedly ignored repeated requests for public records,
according to the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center. The
nonprofit firm, which has an office in New Orleans, submitted a
public-records request June 19 for the names and offender ID numbers of
inmates kept in various types of segregated housing at Allen, according to
the lawsuit. The prison received the request, directed to Warden Keith
Cooley, by certified mail June 22, the lawsuit states. Louisiana law allows
five days for information to be provided in response to such an inquiry.
Nearly two months after the original request was submitted, the MacArthur
Justice Center has not received the information -- or a timeline for when
the documents will be made available, prompting the civil lawsuit against
Allen Correctional Center Warden Keith Cooley, the MacArthur center said in
a news release. The lawsuit notes that a follow-up inquiry into the request
was sent July 12, both by fax and certified mail."All we want to know is who they are
holding in solitary confinement and segregated housing," said Katie
Schwartzmann, co-director of the center's New Orleans office. "The
Warden is illegally obstructing our inquiry and we are now seeking a court
assistance." The MacArthur center requested the information as part of
a joint project looking at the use and conditions of segregated housing
units in prisons across Louisiana, Schwartzmann said. The firm submitted
similar requests for records to prisons throughout the state, but Allen
Correctional Center was the only prison that did not comply, she said. The
lawsuit, filed in Allen Parish, asks a court to order release of the
records and seeks an expedited hearing on the matter. The lawsuit is also
seeking penalties for violation of state public-records law, including
sanctions and attorneys' fees for having to bring the litigation, which the
lawsuit contends should have been resolved without court intervention or
attorney time. "The public's ability to inspect public records is a
critical to holding the government - and its private contractors -
accountable for how they manage public resources," Schwartzmann said.
Allen Correctional Center is run by The GEO Group, a private contractor for
the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. However, the
Florida-based company, which owns or manages prisons across the country,
announced last week that it plans to end its management of Allen at the end
of August. Warden Keith Cooley was not immediately available for comment
Monday evening. An attempt to reach The GEO Group for comment was
unsuccessful. Though Schwartzmann declined to give details on why the
MacArthur Justice Center is seeking the records, she said the center is
"very concerned" about excessive use of segregated housing in
Louisiana prisons. Segregated housing, or specialized areas of prisons used
to house particular prisoners apart from the general population, is used
for various reasons, including both disciplinary and protective. Recent
years have seen a trend away from use of segregated housing, which includes
solitary confinement but can include cellmates in some situations,
Schwartzmann said.Segregated
housing often involves restricted access to services, privileges and
everyday prison routines, such as outdoor exercise, phone use and social
interactions. The practice has been shown to cause "very significant
damage" to prisoners, she said. In July, the MacArthur Justice Center
filed a federal lawsuit against another Louisiana prison, David Wade
Correctional Center in Homer, arguing that the prison "deliberately
impeded an investigation into allegations of serious neglect and abuse of
prisoners with disabilities" by not allowing government-designated
advocates to tour segregated housing for prisoners with
disabilities.Lawsuit: Prisoners may have been forced to bark for food. Prison officials prevented advocates from
interviewing inmates and staff members, the lawsuit claims. The lawsuit was
also brought by the nonprofit Advocacy Center of Louisiana, which serves as
the state's protection and advocacy system to protect the rights of people
with mental or physical disabilities.The MacArthur Justice Center is the
same firm representing inmates whose lawsuit led to the Orleans Parish
Sheriff's Office federal consent decree over conditions at the jail.

Jun 27, 2017 kplctv.com GEO Group terminates contract with Allen Correctional CenterGEO, the private managing company of Allen Correctional Center, is
pulling their management contract with the facility beginning Aug. 20. The
relationship the town of Kinder has with the correctional center runs deep,
from employment to partnerships, and many say they're shocked by the sudden
question regarding the facility's future. "We really didn't know what
was going on, we heard rumors but nothing concrete," said Kinder Mayor
Wayland LaFargue. He said he was notified of GEO's plan to end their
management contract with the state-funded facility this past Thursday. In a
statement from the company, GEO cited state budgetary constraints. The
center has been operating as a jail facility for a year, which the company
said they hoped was temporary. “We’re proud to have been able to partner
with the Louisiana Department of Corrections to provide high quality
management services at the state-owned Allen Correctional Center over the
last two decades. Due to state budgetary constraints, over the last year,
the Center has been operating as a jail facility, which we had hoped would
be temporary. Unfortunately, continued state budgetary constraints will not
support returning the Center to a full service correctional facility with
robust rehabilitation programs, and therefore, we have regrettably reached
the decision to discontinue our management contract at the Allen
Correctional Center. We appreciate the partnership and support of the
Louisiana Department of Corrections over the last two decades, and we are
committed to ensuring a smooth transition as our management tenure ends at
the Center at the end of August.”This still raises major concerns for the parish and the town of
Kinder. "GEO is probably the third largest employer for Allen Parish
and it's going to affect our community dramatically with revenue and
utilities," said LaFargue. "People don't realize the utilities
they use. The employees...where are they going to go? I'm guessing 200 some
have been there 20-plus years, that's devastating to a family."
LaFargue said the correctional center also provides the town with grass
cutting services and help with work on area schools. "They've been
very good to us, but this short notice and hearing this, everybody's
scrambling to find out what lies ahead in the future for us." The
State Department of Corrections says its intentions are to maintain a
facility at Allen Correctional Center, however, nothing is definitive at
this time. "I hope something transpires in the next few months. I hope
someone takes it over. That's the big problem. If we can solve that
problem, it means a lot to Allen Parish and Kinder." The Department of
Public Safety and Corrections says it will meet within a week to review
available options.Allen Correctional CenterFeb 20,
2016 nola.com Louisiana considering closing 2 prisons in budget cutsThe Louisiana Department of Corrections is considering closing two
privately operated prisons as it tries to cut $14.1 million in spending to
help close the state's $940 million budget shortfall. Winn Correctional
Center and Allen Correctional Center, are operated by two separate
companies. The two closures would save an estimated $4.6 million.Another option the Department of
Corrections is floating -- and the one the department most prefers -- is to
temporarily reduce the rate the state pays the two companies that operate
Winn and Allen prisons, for a savings of $2.6 million. But under that
scenario, the Department of Corrections would also need to temporarily
reduce the rate it pays per prisoner to house inmates in jails operated by
sheriffs. There is significant risk in closing the two prisons because many
of the 1,000 prisoners housed there are unable to be transferred to local
facilities because of mental health or debilitating illnesses or because
the prisoner is in a special disciplinary unit. "This is going to
eventually saturate an already saturated staff, especially as it relates to
medical and mental health," Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy
LeBlanc told House Appropriations members on Friday (Feb. 19). "It
means we'll probably have to let people out of cells that probably should
still be in cells and put them in the general population, which will drive
up inmate assaults and inmate-on-staff assaults." The proposal for the
two private operators of the prisons, LaSalle Southwest Corrections and the
GEO Group, sets up a difficult ultimatum: Either accept the lower
per-prisoner pay rate or face total shutdown. The department currently pays
$31.52 per day; the local rate the department wants to pay is $24.39 per
day. Legislators will need to approve new appropriations to pay the lowered
rate. After the hearing, LeBlanc said that the department has been in
communications about the possibility of lower pay rates, but hasn't
received word back that LaSalle or GEO would accept the new payment
structure."I've talked to
LaSalle and got a response in writing, and I think it's been
positive," LeBlanc said. "GEO we've not heard a definite
yet." In addition to the budget cuts, LeBlanc said the department is
having difficulty paying for the upkeep of prisons statewide. There are
broken windows that need to be fixed and other maintenance issues, he said,
that will have to be delayed under the current budget cuts. "This is a
business where you're only one phone call away from disaster," LeBlanc
said. "It's going to be a significant strain on our prisons to take that
kind of cut at the end of the year." Feb 18, 2016 louisianarecord.com
Former Allen Correctional Center inmate sues operators for alleged
denial of medical careLAFAYETTE – An inmate previously confined at Allen Correctional Center
is taking the center's operator to court after allegedly suffering an
injury when a ceiling tile fell on him. Ben Thompson filed a suit on Feb.
12 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana,
Lafayette Division against The Geo Group, for alleged breach of duties and
violations of his rights. Thompson was formerly at the Allen Correctional
Center, which is operated and owned by The Geo Group. He was allegedly
incarcerated at the facility since April 2012 and until the time of the
incident, and is now currently at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in
Iberville Parish, the suit states. He alleges that many employees and inmates
had complained about the conditions of the Allen facility but defendant
allegedly ignored such complaints. On or about Feb. 12, 2015, Thompson was
acting as a peer-facilitator in a substance abuse class when a ceiling tile
fell 12 feet and struck him on the middle of his neck on the posterior
side, the suit states. Thompson claims to have immediately felt a shocking
sensation and instantaneous pain but was allegedly given only ibuprofen.
Thompson alleges that the pain did not subside on Feb. 15, 2015, but was
again allegedly given only ibuprofen when he sought treatment. On March 11,
2015, Thompson allegedly was given a CT scan and on March 20, a doctor at
Allen recommended that plaintiff be observed by a neuro or orthopedic
surgeon for appropriate diagnosis. The defendant allegedly denied such
recommendations. The defendant also allegedly denied an administrative
remedy procedure complaint made by the plaintiff on March 8, 2015. Thompson
claims that as a result of defendant’s actions and unlawful disregard to
his rights for medical treatment, he continues to suffer physical injury to
his cervical spine and neck. He is now suing for access to reasonable
medical care and treatment for his injuries, compensatory general and
special damages, punitive damages, attorneys' fees, cost of the suit, and
any other relief deemed just. He is represented by Gabe A. Duhon, James S.
Broussard and Wyman E. Bankston from Abbeville. U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Louisiana Case number 6:16-cv-00208February
9, 2011 The Advocate
The Jindal administration is asking companies to detail how much they would
charge the state to care for inmates in Allen and Winn parishes if two
state prisons are sold to ease budget problems. Responses to the Request
For Information, or RFI, are due Friday as part of a possible move toward
selling the correctional centers. Private companies oversee Winn
Correctional Center in Atlanta, La., and Allen Correctional Center in
Kinder. Winn is managed by Corrections Corporation of America while Global
Expertise in Outsourcing, Inc. operates Allen. Selling the prisons is still
just a possibility at this point. However, a sale would force the state to
pay the new owners for the care of inmates at the medium security centers.
Some elected officials are nervous about how much the state would end up
paying. Michael DiResto, spokesman for the Division of Administration, said
Wednesday that the RFI is “for planning and information gathering
purposes.”

February 3, 2009 The Town TalkThe three men who escaped from the Allen Correctional Center in Kinder
Jan. 26 have been charged with aggravated escape and are back in the
custody of the Department of Corrections. Cecil Stratton, the last of the
three men to be apprehended, went before a judge Tuesday morning for a
brief court appearance before he was released back to the custody of
Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. The other two
escapees – Troy Hargrave and Daniel Reeder – were both charged Friday with
aggravated escape and turned over to state custody.

January 29, 2009 The Town TalkFatigue, cold and hunger led one of three Allen Parish prison escapees
to turn himself in Wednesday, authorities said. Law enforcement officers
have two of the three men, who escaped Monday from the Allen Correctional
Center in Kinder, in custody. Federal, state and local law enforcement
agencies say they are turning up the heat on the third escaped convict, who
remains on the loose. "We are working around the clock to locate Cecil
Stratton," Deputy U.S. Marshal Corey Britt said. "And anyone who
assists Cecil will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
Stratton -- who was serving a 25-year sentence for convictions of simple
escape, simple burglary, first-degree robbery, marijuana possession, felony
theft and flight from an officer out of St. Mary Parish -- is the only
escapee who has not been captured. Escapees Daniel Reeder and Troy Hargrave
-- both serving sentences for manslaughter convictions -- are back in
police custody.

January 27, 2009 The Advertiser
A prison guard has been booked with helping three dangerous inmates escape
from the privately run state prison in Kinder, the Allen Parish Sheriff’s
Office said Tuesday. Detective Peggy Kennedy said Jesse Jordan, 19, of
Glenmora was held without bond after being booked Monday night on three
counts of assisting escape and one of malfeasance in office. He had worked
there as a guard since May, Chief Deputy Grant Willis said. “It appears the
motivation on his part was for monetary value,” Willis said. He said Jordan
was cooperating with investigators. Jordan was employed by GEO — Global
Expertise in Outsourcing Inc., the private company that runs the prison,
Kennedy said. A call to the prison was not immediately returned. Daniel
Reeder, 24, of Shreveport, Troy Hargrave, 32, of Crowley, and Cecil
Stratton, 29, of Berwick were missing at the 6 a.m. head count, prison
officials said. They described all three as dangerous and said Reeder and
Hargrave were serving time for manslaughter. Three rows of razor wire on
the ground in front of the fence had been cut through, but neither the
fence nor the razor wire on top of it had been cut, Willis said. “We can’t
say for certain that’s the way they got out, or whether it was a decoy,” he
said.

January 27, 2009 The Town Talk
Three inmates -- two of whom were serving time for manslaughter -- escaped
from a correctional center in Kinder sometime before 6 a.m. Monday, prison
officials reported. Authorities from the Allen Correctional Center in
Kinder said the three men should be considered dangerous. Officials are
asking anyone with information or anyone who sees the escapees to contact
their local authorities or call 911. The three men were discovered missing
when the facility conducted its 6 a.m. count. The escapees were identified
as: Daniel Reeder, a 24-year-old white man, 5 feet, 6 inches tall and 140
pounds with brown hair. He was serving a 30-year sentence for a
manslaughter conviction in Caddo Parish. Troy Hargrave, a 32-year-old white
man, 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 203 pounds with blond hair. He was serving a
40-year sentence for a manslaughter conviction in Calcasieu Parish. Cecil
Stratton, a 29-year-old white man, 6 feet, 1 inch tall and 185 pounds with
balding brown hair. He was serving a 25-year sentence for convictions of
simple escape, simple burglary, first-degree robbery, marijuana possession,
felony theft and flight from an officer out of St. Mary Parish. In addition
to the three offenders, the facility is listing Sidonia Marie Stratton of
Morgan City as a person of interest in the incident. She is the sister of
Cecil Stratton and is thought to be driving a beige 1998 Mercury Sable with
license plate OZK138. The dress code for offenders at Allen Correctional
Center is navy blue scrubs with a white undershirt or blue jeans, a
blue-jean button-up shirt or gray sweatshirt, but it is not confirmed what
the men were wearing when they escaped. Security and K-9 teams from the
correctional center are working with local law enforcement in Allen Parish
and surrounding parishes to track down the three escaped inmates. The local
community has been notified of the escape, as is standard in these
situations, officials said. Allen Parish Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy
Grant Willis said the Sheriff's Office is assisting in the search efforts.
According to a release from the facility, Hargrave may have family in the
Jennings, Kinder and Lake Arthur areas. Jennifer Allemand, programs manager
for the GEO Group facility, said the three men were state Department of
Corrections inmates who were housed in the medium-custody private prison.

March 15, 2007 KPLC TV
It was between two and three in the afternoon Wednesday when Brian Scott
escaped from the Allen Correctional Center by scaling the fence. Scott is
convicted of felony theft and as a fugitive was considered dangerous. The
prison is a medium security state facility but is operated by a private
company, the Geo Group. Warden Terry Terrell says, with the help of
numerous law enforcement agencies, procedures were put in effect to identify
the missing inmate and get a manhunt underway to capture him. "I don't
know that you could get out of a situation any better than what we did. The
inmate was apprehended. Neither he nor anyone in law enforcement was
injured so we are very thankful for that. " In such cases they notify
those who live near the prison, that is if they've signed up to be notified
when there's an escape. "About once a year and sometimes more
frequently we put out flyers to all the local residents that we're aware of
and ask them if they do wish to be contacted in a similar circumstance to
simply fill out the form and name a number so we can put them on the
calling list," says Terrell. But people who live near the prison such
as in this area called Hickory Flat say they need to do a better job of
alerting the public when an inmate escapes. Explains Virgil Richard,
"We're taxpayers. Why can't they burn a little gas and let us know
something. They were supposed to have had a horn, an alarm system and we
don't have that." Neighbor Lloyd Miles agrees. "We've got some
elderly people here and some handicapped people here by themselves and I'm
mostly concerned about them. And we got kids."

October 23, 2002Few concerned citizens ventured out to Alexandria
City Hall Tuesday evening to speak out on the escape and fatal shooting of
an HIV-positive state inmate. But those who attended were vocal in their
questions and suggestions for the Department of Corrections and the Allen
Correctional Center in Kinder. The committee did not make any
recommendations concerning the escape or policies of the Department of
Corrections or Wackenhut Corp., which owns Allen Correctional Center in
Kinder. Cotton, 43, of Houma, escaped Aug. 21 from his room at the
hospital. Thirty-eight hours later, he was shot while hiding underneath a
home. Cotton snatched a .357-caliber handgun from the lone female guard
assigned to him when she bent down to unshackle him so he could use the
restroom, police said. (Daily Town Talk)

Alutiiq Security
and Technology, AlaskaDecember 10, 2004 News
& ObserverWe
commend your excellent Nov. 30 editorial and the fine investigative report
on Nov. 28 on the award of no-bid deals to Alaska Native Corporations such
as Alutiiq Security and Technology. We endorse your call for urgent
scrutiny of this system and the back-door access it affords major defense
contractors like Wackenhut Corp. to gain lucrative federal work by teaming
with Alutiiq as a subcontractor. Your reporters quoted an Army spokesman
who said that Alutiiq, with little experience in security, would have been
unlikely to win the contract on its own. But it gets even worse: Wackenhut
was a failed bidder in the second phase of contracts which were
competitively awarded. Only in this perverse "system within a
system" can two losers become a winner. If companies like Wackenhut
can skirt competitive bidding processes, taxpayers can have little
confidence that we are getting value for money -- in this case up to half a
billion dollars Bill Ragen Deputy Director, Building Services Division,
Service Employees International Union Washington.

Arizona
Department of CorrectionsMar 29, 2014 azcentral.com

The Republican-crafted state
budget now includes $900,000 in additional funding to pay for private
prison beds operated by GEO Group Inc., even though the state Department of
Corrections doesn't think the increase is needed. Private-prison lobbyists
succeeded in getting state lawmakers to include nearly $1 million in extra
funding in the state budget even though the Arizona Department of
Corrections says the money isn't needed. The eleventh-hour funding was
placed into the budget by House Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh,
R-Fountain Hills, who said GEO Group Inc. lobbyists informed him the
company wasn't making enough money from the emergency beds it provides
Arizona at prisons in Phoenix and Florence. The request came even though
GEO bid for its contracts and had agreed to previously negotiated rates
with the Corrections Department, which guarantees the company nearly 100
percent occupancy at its prisons. House Minority Leader Chad Campbell of
Phoenix was incensed by the additional money for GEO. Related: Arizona
sheriffs assail costs of private prisons Previously: Arizona faces growing
cost of private prisons He voiced disappointment on the House floor late
Thursday during the budget debate and again Friday, telling The Arizona
Republic that the request "came out of nowhere." Some lawmakers,
he said, learned of the addition to the House budget hours before members
began voting on it. Campbell said Kavanagh is responsible for pushing the
proposal through the House with support from all but one Republican: Rep.
Ethan Orr of Tucson. "This is somebody getting a handout,"
Campbell said. "It's unnecessary. This came out of nowhere — I mean
that. No one said a word about it. It wasn't in the Senate budget, it
didn't come as a request from DOC. There's something really shady
here." Doug Nick, a state Corrections spokesman, confirmed his agency
did not seek additional money for GEO. "We did not request it,"
Nick said. "We had nothing to do with it." The state this fiscal
year is projected to pay GEO $45 million to house minimum- and
medium-security inmates in the company's 2,530 beds, according to Corrections
records. Guaranteed rate: Arizona guarantees GEO an occupancy rate of 95 to
100 percent at those facilities. GEO, based in Boca Raton, Fla., posted
$115 million in profits on $1.52 billion in revenue in 2013. The company,
which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, is worth $2.3
billion, and it paid Chairman and Chief Executive George Zoley $4.62
million in total compensation last year. The additional money for GEO comes
as lawmakers debate a $9.2 billion budget passed by the House late Thursday
night. The $900,000 for GEO was one of many additions made to get the
support of some holdout Republicans. Democratic lawmakers criticized the
spending proposal, saying private prisons are being prioritized over
education. Caroline Isaacs, a watchdog on prison spending and the program
director for the American Friends Service Committee, called the additional
funding "outrageous." "Why this corporation feels it's
entitled to bypass the contract process with a state agency it is serving
and go directly to the money man (Kavanagh) is incredible," Isaacs
said. "This indicates a level of coziness that should make taxpayers
nervous." Isaacs said lawmakers appear more concerned about padding
GEO's bottom line instead of looking out for public education and abused
children who have fallen through the cracks at Child Protective Services.
Kavanagh said GEO had been giving the state a "cut rate" for
emergency beds during the recession and, "now that the economy has
come back, they want to get more money." He said if GEO didn't take
the inmates, it would cost the state more to house them at overcrowded
facilities. GEO, however, is not at full capacity, records show. The
company as of Friday was housing 2,466 inmates in its 2,530 beds. Maricopa
County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and sheriff's offices in Apache, Pinal, Cochise,
Navajo and Santa Cruz counties have said they would be willing to take
Department of Corrections inmates to ease the state's overcrowding burden
and make some additional money. Beds available: The six sheriffs have said
they could provide at least 1,750 beds. Kavanagh declined to identify the
lobbyists who asked him for additional money for GEO. State lobbying
records show that Pivotal Policy Consulting represents GEO. Neither Pivotal
Policy Consulting nor GEO Group could be reached Friday. The state Senate
will hold a hearing on the budget Monday. Senate Appropriations Chairman
Don Shooter, R-Yuma, declined to speculate on whether the additional
funding for GEO will remain. "We can't talk anything about the budget
process,'' Shooter said. "It would be bad form."

Jan 2, 2014 azcentral.com

Facts, not philosophy, should be
the foundation of state policy. Tell the Legislature. Tell Gov. Jan Brewer.
After years of studies showed that private prisons cost more than state
prisons, conservative supporters of privatization repealed a statutory
requirement to compare costs. Convenient for those who like private
prisons. Not helpful to those who want policy based on solid information.
Arizona is putting increasing numbers of inmates into private prisons —
even guaranteeing high occupancy rates at those private facilities. This
represents the triumph of an ideological bent toward privatization. We
don’t know whether it represents the taxpayers’ best interests. Arizona
agreed to contracts that guarantee 90 to 100 percent occupancy to the three
private-prison companies operating in the state, according to reporting by
The Arizona Republic’s Craig Harris. These are Corrections Corporation of
America, GEO Group Inc. and Management & Training Corp. There is more
to prison than costs and profit — or taxpayers’ deep pockets. Society locks
up criminals to protect others, to punish wrongdoing and, if possible, to rehabilitate
lawbreakers. Because most prisoners will return to our streets, the public
is best served when those convicted of crimes emerge from the
criminal-justice system able to abide by the law and function in society. A
focus on filling prison beds discourages alternatives to prison that might
be more cost-effective and more likely to reduce recidivism by achieving
real rehabilitation. A bill passed in 2012 eliminated the statutory
requirement for the Department of Corrections to do a cost comparison between
public and private prisons. It was signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer, who
has long been a supporter of private prisons. It also eliminated the
previous statutory requirement for regular comparisons of the services
provided by private and public prisons, including a hard look at such
things as security, prisoner health and the safety of facilities. This is
particularly odd when you consider how questionable security practices at a
private Kingman prison became painfully obvious after the 2010 escape of three
prisoners, two of whom killed an Oklahoma couple while on the lam. Statutes
still require cost savings and equitable performance. But the comparisons
are not the same. Surveys by Department of Corrections in 2008, 2009 and
2010 found that it was more expensive to incarcerate inmates in privately
run medium-security prisons than it was in similar state facilities. These
studies factored in the differences in inmate costs, including that private
prisons house only healthy inmates, while state prisons incarcerate those
with expensive medical or mental-health problems. A comparison in fiscal
2013 that did not adjust for these differences found a lower cost at
private prisons. How convenient. It might make sense to reduce the state’s
capital expenses by contracting with private prisons rather than building
new facilities. But we need to consider all the facts when making that
determination. What’s more, guaranteeing occupancy to private operators
creates a profit motive for locking people up that should be unsettling to
all who treasure civil liberties. Arizona needs to take a harder look at
whether private prisons make sense.

March 25, 2013
azcapitoltimes.com

A trial is set for next month in
a sexual harassment lawsuit pitting the state against one of its private
prison contractors in a battle that promises to shine a harsh light on
private prisons and the Arizona Department of Corrections. The Attorney
General’s Civil Rights Division alleges that male workers with GEO Group,
which operates three prisons for the state, sexually harassed female
co-workers for several years while supervisors and managers for the company
looked the other way. Although the state is the plaintiff in the case, the
lawsuit has uncovered information that a civil rights attorney, a lawmaker
and critics of the Department of Corrections say is damning to the
Department of Corrections. The allegations in the lawsuit took place before
Charles Ryan became director of DOC, but the critics say problems have
continued under his leadership. “It’s not just private prisons,” said House
Minority Leader Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, a steadfast opponent of private
prisons. “There’s blatant mismanagement in our public prisons, too.”
Campbell said he is working with community groups to call for Ryan’s firing
as high-profile problems mount. In recent weeks, Ryan disclosed that
employees are arrested at a rate of 11 per month, mostly for drunken
driving and domestic violence. A federal judge gave class status to 33,000
prisoners and all future prisoners in a lawsuit alleging substandard health
care. And a local television station aired video of inmate Tony Lester’s
suicide in which correctional officers stood around the bleeding man
without providing emergency care.

After Ryan took over in 2009,
the agency was rocked when a July 30, 2010, escape from a Kingman private
prison led to the deaths of an Oklahoma couple. The company that won the
$349 million contract to provide health care for prisoners parted ways with
the state after just 6 months. Gov. Jan Brewer’s spokesman, Matt Benson,
said she still stands behind Ryan. “He performs a very difficult job under
difficult circumstances,” Benson said. Prisoner advocate Donna Hamm, of
Middle Ground Prison Reform, also defended Ryan, saying Arizona’s prison
system has been dysfunctional for the 30 years she has been an advocate and
Ryan is more responsive to problems than the other five directors over that
time. “He does not ignore or make excuses,” Hamm said. Bill Lamoreaux, a
department spokesman, said Ryan was out of town and unavailable for
comment. Lamoreaux also said the department has been advised by lawyers not
to discuss pending litigation. History of mistreatment: Court documents in
the GEO suit paint a picture of female correctional officers having to deal
with raunchy statements directed at them and fondling by their male
co-workers. Attorney Stephen Montoya, whose client, Alice Hancock, is a
former GEO correctional officer and an intervener in the case, said the
sexual harassment at GEO is an extension of the DOC culture. In February
2012, DOC agreed to pay a former female officer $182,000 to settle a sexual
harassment complaint brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. Montoya has
won jury awards of $200,000 and $600,000 for women who used to work for
DOC, and he said many of the correctional officers with GEO worked
previously for the department. The $600,000 award was reduced to $300,000
due to limitations on compensatory damages. In one of the cases, U.S.
District Court Judge Frederick Martone said DOC was reckless in its
management by “allowing bestial people to run unsupervised throughout the
process and employing ineffective and incompetent supervisory staff that
knew about things and failed to do anything about it in a timely way.”
Lamoreaux pointed out, however, that the allegations in the GEO suit and
the actions against DOC occurred before Ryan took over as an appointee of
Brewer in January 2009. Dora Schriro, appointed by Democratic Gov. Janet
Napolitano, was in charge. Part of the DOJ settlement required DOC to
improve its sexual harassment policies, and Ryan has said in written
statements that the bad behavior wouldn’t be tolerated under his watch.
Hamm said the recent problems plaguing DOC have existed under every
administration she has seen in 30 years, but they are just getting more
exposure today. “Those problems are not unique to Charles Ryan’s
administration,” Hamm said. However, Montoya said Ryan tolerates women
being “treated like trash,” and he points to the promotion of Carson
McWilliams as proof. McWilliams was the warden of the prison where
Montoya’s client, Michelle Barfield, was sexually harassed. Ryan promoted
McWilliams in April 2011 to be the department’s Northern Regional
operations director a little more than a year after the $600,000 verdict.
“In the government workplace, if there is pervasive illegality, it’s
because it is tolerated from the top to the bottom,” Montoya said. A
pattern of problems: The lawsuit is a compilation of suits filed by the
Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division, the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission and Montoya, and when the witnesses begin taking the stand on
April 9, their testimony is sure to become fodder for opponents of private
prisons. Probably the harshest critic of private prisons is the American
Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that generally advocates
for the rights of prisoners. Caroline Isaacs, Friends’ executive director
in Arizona, said the lawsuit is one more damning piece of information that
confirms there is a consistent pattern of problems with private prisons.
Isaacs has spent thousands of hours documenting misconduct in private
prisons. “These problems are found in all for-profit prisons, and you
simply can’t dismiss them as ‘bad apples,’” Isaacs said. The lawsuit alleges
that male workers regularly grabbed their female co-workers’ genitals and
breasts and made obscene gestures toward them. The suit says that in some
instances, males exposed themselves to the women. Montoya said the
prisoners showed more respect to the women than the male officers did. GEO
is trying to keep out of the trial evidence that one of the most prolific
alleged perpetrators was fired twice by other private prisons, once while
he was being investigated for sexual harassment before GEO hired him in
2007. Sherri Haahr, a GEO human resources official, testified in deposition
that the company didn’t know about Robert Kroen’s background because the
contract with DOC doesn’t require employment reference checks. Haahr
testified that DOC does criminal background checks itself and approves
anyone who is hired by GEO. GEO lawyers argue that Kroen’s employment
history isn’t relevant because the decision to hire him was DOC’s. Pablo
Paez, a GEO spokesman, declined comment. “We cannot comment on litigation related
matters. We can however confirm that our company vigorously disagrees with
these allegations and intends to defend its position,” Paez said. And while
DOC has onsite monitors at its private prisons, their job is to make sure
the company maintains appropriate staffing levels of “qualified personnel”
required by contract, Lamoreaux said. He said the contractors are
responsible for their own human resource systems. Campbell, the state
representative who regularly introduces legislation to regulate private
prisons more, said he isn’t surprised there are no routine reference checks
in hiring. “At the end of the day, the buck stops at DOC,” Campbell said.

May 2, 2004Groups of Arizona prisoners transferred to a
Texas private prison staged fights and hunger strikes to either improve
conditions or earn transfers back to Arizona. The incident report
from Wackenhut Corp.'s Pecos, Texas, prison officials recommends eight
inmates be sent back to Arizona because they are security problems.
The report details a fight between two groups of prisoners, with at least
14 taking part in the late-night April 10 fight. The subsequent
investigation showed that some inmates from each group were conspiring to
get back to Arizona. The decision last year by the Arizona Legislature
to ship about 2,000 inmates to out-of-state prisons angered some inmate
family members, mainly because contact with inmates will be limited by the
financial ability to travel to either Texas or another prison in
Oklahoma. (Arizona Daily Star)

Aurora INS
Detention Facility
Aurora, Colorado
GEO Group (formerly known as Wackenhut Corrections)Dec 21, 2017 westword.com ACLU Investigating Death of Iranian Immigrant at Aurora Detention
FacilityEarlier this morning, the ACLU of Colorado announced that it filed a
Freedom of Information Act request to obtain more information about how a
64-year-old Iranian man, Kamyar Samimi, died while being held at the
Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Aurora on December
2. ICE issued a statement two days after Samimi died, saying that the
primary cause of death was cardiac arrest and that Samimi had been
transferred to the University of Colorado Medical Center on the morning of
December 2 before he was pronounced dead shortly after 12 p.m. The ACLU of Colorado
wants to know exactly what happened. “Once again, a death in ICE custody
raises serious questions about whether the agency is continuing to fail in
its legal duty to provide necessary and adequate medical care to detainees
in its custody,” says Mark Silverstein, legal director for the ACLU of
Colorado. In 2012, a 46-year-old named Evalin-Ali Mandza died of cardiac
arrest at the same detention center. An investigation of that death showed
that staff at the GEO Group-run facility did not know how to properly use
an EKG machine and stalled in calling an ambulance. The GEO Group manages
private prisons across the U.S. and contracts with ICE to manage
immigrant-detention facilities. The ACLU has looked into deaths at
immigrant-detention facilities nationwide and co-authored a report in 2016
called "Fatal Neglect: How ICE Ignored Deaths in Detention."
Nearly 200 immigrant detainees have died while in custody in ICE facilities
since 2003. Samimi, who came to the United States as a student in 1976 and
was arrested at his home on November 17 by ICE (the agency says he had a
minor drug conviction from 2005), is the latest detainee to die in
Colorado. “Mr. Samimi’s arrest, detention and death in custody display the
inhumanity of our current federal immigration policies,” says ACLU of
Colorado staff attorney Arash Jahanian. “He lived in the U.S. for forty
years. ICE arrested him at his home with the intent to ship him off to a
country he no longer knew. Then they locked him up in a detention facility,
where he died two weeks later. ICE gave very little detail about what
happened but made sure to mention his twelve-year-old drug-possession
charge. The community deserves better, and that starts with ICE explaining
what led to Mr. Samimi’s tragic death.” Silverstein characterizes ICE's
detention facilities as "cloaked in secrecy." "[They] offer
little to no transparency into the way detainees are treated within their
walls,” the legal director says. "We are invoking the Freedom of
Information Act to further the public’s right to know what goes on in these
secretive taxpayer-funded institutions.” Meanwhile, a class action lawsuit
is being tried in federal court over alleged forced labor practices at the
Aurora facility. In September, the ACLU of Colorado found that clients of
Iraqi descent being held at the facility were being harassed by guards and
pressured to self-deport. A GEO Group spokesman told Westword at the time:
"The Aurora, Colorado, facility has a longstanding record of providing
highly rated services in a safe, secure and humane residential environment
while treating all those entrusted to our care with the respect and dignity
they deserve."Sep 6, 2017 miaminewtimes.com ACLU Says South Florida Private Prison Giant Is Torturing Immigration
DetaineesBoca Raton's GEO Group is one of the most powerful private-prison
companies in America — and a major player in state and federal politics.
GEO throws campaign money at Florida lawmakers from both parties: Sens.
Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson, Gov. Rick Scott, Reps. Carlos Curbelo and
Mario Diaz-Balart, and the majority of the Florida Legislature have taken
thousands from GEO despite constant complaints from progressives and
human-rights activists who say the company profits from destroying the
lives of others. Well, here's yet another reason Florida politicians should
drop GEO Group like the plague: The American Civil Liberties Union said
Friday that the company is torturing whistleblowers at its private
immigration detention facility in Aurora, Colorado. GEO runs the facility
on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to the
ACLU, ICE agents at GEO's 1,500-bed Colorado detention center are
retaliating against Iraqi nationals who have joined an ACLU class-action
lawsuit to stop the U.S. from deporting them. The ACLU says employees at
the GEO facility are denying Iraqis food, water, and access to the restroom
to intentionally make their lives a living hell. "GEO, the second
largest immigration detention facility in the country, is a tightly regulated,
colorless institution with bare cement walls, large metal doors that lock
at every threshold, and scores of prisoners in scrubs," the ACLU
writes. "Each of the detainees we interviewed provided accounts of
mistreatment. These accounts were consistent, as was their palpable fear of
death if ultimately deported to Iraq." The ACLU writes today that the
Trump administration agreed to take Iraq off its list of countries covered
under the so-called Muslim ban if Iraq agreed to accept ICE deportees. The ACLU
has since sued, but the organization now says ICE agents at the GEO
facility are trying to make detainees miserable so they choose to get
deported. The ACLU writes: Since the court’s ruling, ICE appears to have
ramped up its efforts to make the lives of Iraqis in custody so unbearable
that they will “voluntarily” sign away their rights to reopen their
immigration cases or pursue asylum. The Iraqis have been singled out and
denied food, water, and access to the restroom. One man, who came to the
United States as a refugee in 1976, reflected that if he goes back to Iraq,
he will be tortured and killed. Still, he feels that his experiences at the
hands of ICE are “a different way of torture.” He has told his wife that he
is considering just signing the form and going back to Iraq. In Arizona and
Colorado, and on the plane traveling between the two locations, ICE guards
referred to the Iraqis as “camel jockey,” “rag head,” and “terrorist.”
Guards at GEO referred to one of our clients as ‘Al Qaeda’ and told him, “You
Iraqis are the worst people in here. We can’t stand you Iraqis.” When he
tried to say that he has rights, he was told that he doesn’t have any
rights because he was “an alien.” ICE guards in Arizona and Colorado have
openly pressured Iraqi nationals to sign away their right to fight their
immigration cases. Some guards told the detainees that their situations
were hopeless and urged them to sign forms agreeing to voluntary
deportation, without counsel present. Some Iraqis apparently succumbed to
the pressure. The brave men we spoke to have decided to stay and fight.
Miami New Times' sister newspaper Phoenix New Times has covered the plight
of Iraqi nationals trapped in an Arizona detention center run by CoreCivic
(formerly known as the Corrections Corporation of America), GEO Group's
main competitor. In July, an Arizona judge blocked the deportation of 1,400
Iraqi Chaldean Catholics on the grounds they could be tortured for their
religious beliefs and ties to the United States. In 2013, the Huffington
Post reported that the CCA/CoreCivic's lobbying firms have donated more
than $20,000 to South Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. In 2011,
Wasserman Schultz threw her support behind a plan to build a private,
CCA-run immigration facility in South Florida. That decision sparked
protests and has cast a shadow over her recent bids for reelection. But of
the two companies, it's Boca's GEO Group that remains the major political
power in Florida. According to the National Institute on Money in State
Politics (NIMSP), GEO has given $7.8 million to 885 candidates across the
nation over the past 17 years. The group rains money in Florida: It is
honestly difficult to find a state politician who has not taken at least a
tiny amount of money from the company in that time period. According to
NIMSP records, the group has sent checks to the majority of the state
Legislature in Tallahassee, Rubio has taken $30,500 from GEO, Curbelo has
received $11,000, and Nelson has accepted $5,000. Other recipients include
U.S. Reps. Ted Deutch, Frederica Wilson, Mario Diaz-Balart, Charlie Crist,
and Governor Scott. GEO is still donating today: The group gave former
state Rep. Jose Feliz "Pepi" Diaz $3,000 in his current race for
the state Senate seat vacated by N-word-dropping ex-lawmaker Frank Artiles.
Last year, the Miami Herald reported that GEO absolutely vomited cash at
state Senate President Joe Negron and his wife Rebecca, who ran for the GOP
nomination for Senate last year before Rubio announced his plans to run for
reelection. The Herald reported that GEO gave the couple a combined
$288,000 in a single election cycle. "It is tragic that these
individuals, who fear persecution in Iraq because of their religion and
connection to America, are now being persecuted by agents of the United
States government," the ACLU wrote last week.Aug 18, 2017 nationallawjournalAdvocacy Groups Side With Plaintiffs Alleging Unpaid Labor At For-Profit
PrisonAdvocacy groups have weighed in on a lawsuit against the nation's second-largest
for-profit prison provider, arguing in recently filed
"friend-of-the-court briefs" that GEO Group Inc.'s alleged
practices of relying on cheap and unpaid labor by detained immigrants
underscores abuses to this vulnerable community. Attorneys who filed the
lawsuit in 2014 are currently fighting to uphold class certification in the
case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The U.S.
District Court for the District of Colorado in Denver originally certified
the class, which could include as many as 60,000 detainees who cycled in
and out of the GEO Group-owned Aurora Processing Detention Center in since
2004. Over the last week, a slew of advocacy organizations, including The
Southern Poverty Law Center, Public Citizen and a group of national
immigrant rights groups, filed briefs that point to the broader
implications of the case — noting issues around human trafficking and the
for-profit prison industry. They also discussed the importance of class
actions for vulnerable immigrant groups. This potential class action
against GEO, a Republican campaign donor, comes at a time when the $3
billion for-profit prison industry is gaining support from the Trump
administration. Earlier this year, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions
rescinded guidance from the Obama administration that would have reduced
the construction of privately owned prisons. A separate complaint has also
been filed at the Federal Election Commission by the Campaign Legal Center
against GEO, claiming the company illegally contributed $225,000 to a
pro-Trump PAC during the 2016 election. And according to reports, the U.S.
Department of Justice under President Donald Trump has awarded the GEO
Group more federal contracts for private prison facilities. "This is
about the excesses of the private prison system and how it almost
invariably led to forced labor and human trafficking," said David
Lopez of Outten & Golden, who represents the plaintiffs in the Aurora
case. "This case illustrates why it's dangerous and they have a built-in
system to keep the costs down. Absent of such class actions, who will hold
them accountable?" Outten & Golden attorneys this year joined
Nashville-based immigration attorney Andrew Free, attorneys for
Denver-based advocacy group Towards Justice and Colorado-based attorneys
for Milstein Law Office and Meyers Law Office in bringing the suit. The
lawsuit claims that GEO amassed enormous profits through "forced
labor" provided to the Aurora prison through a contract with U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The suit takes aim at the company's
"sanitation policy" that required ICE detainees to work as
janitors without pay under the threat of solitary confinement. It also
targets a "voluntary work program" that allegedly paid detainees
only $1 a day. Two classes were certified by the Denver federal court that
could include between 40,000 to 60,000 laborers that were detained in
Aurora over the last 10 years. The private prison system, and its profit
margin, appears to depend upon this type of labor, Free said. He said the
case in Colorado is a reflection that such policies and practices affect a
wide array of people in the immigration system. "These policies run
directly counter to protections that people have fought hard to apply to
all immigrants and workers," Free said. "How exactly would these
staffing plans work if companies were not allowed to use free and nearly
free labor of detainees?" In a statement, GEO responded that the
volunteer work program at all of its 143 immigration facilities, as well as
the minimum wage rates and standards, are set by the government. The
company also said that all of its facilities, including the Aurora center,
are "highly rated and provide high-quality services in safe, secure
and humane residential environments pursuant to the federal government's
national standards." "GEO has consistently, strongly refuted the
allegations made in this lawsuit, and we intend to continue to vigorously
defend our company against these claims," the company said in the statement.
The organizations filing briefs supporting plaintiffs in the suit against
GEO, a massive for-profit prison company, include the Southern Poverty Law
Center and the National Employment Law Project.GEO: Facing legal
challenges.

Jul 10, 2015 abcnews.go.comLawsuit: Immigrants Got $1 a Day
for Work at Private Prison

Immigrants who were detained at
a suburban Denver facility while they awaited deportation proceedings are
suing the private company that held them, alleging they were paid $1 a day
to do janitorial work, sometimes under threat of solitary confinement. They
scrubbed toilets, mopped and swept floors, did laundry, and prepared and
served meals, among other duties, according to attorneys who filed the
lawsuit in October on behalf of nine current and former detainees. On
Monday, U.S. District Court Judge John L. Kane declined a request from the
Florida-based GEO Group Inc. to dismiss the claims against it, allowing the
federal lawsuit to proceed. GEO is one of the largest contractors with the
federal government for the detention of immigrants suspected of being in
the country illegally or legal permanent residents with criminal records
who face deportation. The company has denied wrongdoing and said in court
documents the work is voluntary and it is abiding by federal guidelines in
paying $1 a day. Attorneys for the immigrants say they'll move to expand
the case by seeking class-action status. They say the judge's ruling clears
the way to gather more information from GEO through discovery proceedings
about how many detainees were put to work. The attorneys said they've heard
from clients for years that immigrants labor for almost nothing at private
detention facilities around the country, but they called the lawsuit filed
in Colorado the first of its kind. "It's their job to run the
facility, and instead they used and abused us to run the facility, and
that's why we're suing," said plaintiff Alejandro Menocal, 53. Menocal
is a legal permanent resident who was detained for three months at GEO's
Aurora facility while facing deportation last fall. GEO responded in a
statement that its facilities "provide high-quality services in safe,
secure and humane residential environments, and our company strongly
refutes allegations to the contrary." The company added attorneys and
immigrant advocates have full access to its facilities that U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts with, and they're routinely
audited and inspected by the government. Anita Sinha, a faculty member at
Washington College of Law, American University who has researched immigrant
labor at private detention centers, said the daily wage was set by Congress
in 1950 and hasn't been adjusted for inflation. She said on a daily basis,
immigrants facing deportation occupy about 34,000 beds nationally in private
and government-run facilities. More than 60 percent of the beds are in
privately held facilities, she said. The company succeeded in getting the
judge to dismiss a claim that it violated Colorado's minimum wage law
because detainees were paid $1 a day instead of $8.23 an hour. In tossing
that claim, Kane said the detainees do not qualify as employees under state
law. But he said the lawsuit could proceed on the allegations that GEO
unjustly profited from the detainees and violated the federal Trafficking
Victims Protection Act, which prohibits forced labor. "Legally, this
is a big step forward," said Hans Meyer, Menocal's attorney. It's
common for inmates at state or privately run prisons to work below minimum
wage, in some cases for the purpose of gaining job training. "The
difference here is that these are civil immigration detainees who are not
being held for any criminal violation," said Brandt Milstein, another
attorney in the lawsuit. Menocal, a Mexican immigrant from Baja California,
was released in September and kept his legal resident status after his
attorney won his case. He said he faced deportation proceedings last year
when authorities learned after a traffic stop that he had a criminal record
from 2010 for driving with a suspended license and having his wife's
prescription painkillers in his car. He pleaded guilty and served a year of
probation soon after, but he didn't come to the attention of immigration
authorities at the time. The lawsuit focuses only on the GEO's suburban
Denver facilities, but the American Civil Liberties Union said the claims
are similar to allegations they've heard around the country. "There is
a name for locking people up and forcing them to do work without paying
real wages. It's called slavery," said Carl Takei, staff attorney at
the national prison project of the ACLU. The monetary amount the lawsuit
seeks hasn't been determined.Jul 9, 2015 westword.comGEO LAWSUIT ALLEGING FORCED LABOR OF IMMIGRANT DETAINEES MOVES FORWARD

Update below: In a move that
could have resounding consequences for corrections practices and the
for-profit prison industry in particular, a Denver federal judge has
refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by nine federal immigrant detainees, who
allege that a private prison contractor forced them to perform maintenance
and cleaning jobs for little or no pay. The suit, which is seeking
class-action status, accuses the company of violating federal laws
prohibiting human trafficking and forced labor and seeks millions of
dollars in damages. Senior U.S. District Judge John L. Kane threw out some
of the plaintiffs' claims but allowed the case against The GEO Group, which
operates a detention facility in Aurora under contract with U.S. Immigrant
and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to move forward. The decision was hailed as
"a tremendous victory for civil immigrant detainees nationwide"
by Nina DiSalvo, the executive director of Towards Justice, a Denver-based
nonprofit that partnered with several law firms to bring the action.
"The judge's decision allows us to address the systemic problems with
GEO's treatment of immigrant workers throughout the legal system." One
of the largest private prison companies in the world, GEO operates 66
correctional facilities in the United States, including ICE detention centers
in Washington, Florida, and Colorado. The complaint alleges that Aurora
detainees participate in a "voluntary work program" that includes
laundry, kitchen and cleaning jobs, for which they are paid a dollar a day.
Six detainees are also selected at random each day to clean the living pods
without pay; refusal can result in being placed in solitary confinement.
The lawsuit argued that the arrangement violates Colorado's minimum wage
law. Judge Kane disagreed, since the state's labor laws specifically carve
out an exception for prisoners, who are not considered employees. But Kane
found merit in the claim that GEO's approach to the pod-cleaning
assignments — do it or get thrown in the hole — may be a violation of the
federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which prohibits involuntary
servitude and coercive methods to demand work "by means of force,
threats of force, physical restraint, or threats of physical
restraint." The judge also allowed a claim involving unjust enrichment
to proceed. Most correctional systems depend on cheap inmate labor to keep
costs down. Kane's denial of GEO's motion to dismiss doesn't signal an end
to that practice. It does, however, raise questions about the ability of a
private contractor to demand that inmates perform basic maintenance or
cleaning tasks under threat of further punishment. "Using forced
detainee labor is an integral tool in maintaining GEO's profitability under
its contracts with ICE," Nashville attorney Andrew Free, a co-counsel
in the case, noted in prepared statement. "The court's decision today
represents an important step forward in ending that morally bankrupt
business model." GEO has not responded to a request for comment on the
ruling. We'll update this post if a response is forthcoming.Update, 1:00 p.m.: The GEO Group
corporate headquarters has provided a statement in response to our request
for comment that reads, in part: "GEO’s facilities, including the
Aurora, Colo., facility, provide high quality services in safe, secure, and
humane residential environments, and our company strongly refutes
allegations to the contrary. The volunteer work program at immigration
facilities as well as the wage rates and standards associated with the
program are set by the federal government. Our facilities adhere to these
standards as well as strict contractual requirements and all standards set
by ICE, and the agency employs several full-time, on-site contract monitors
who have a physical presence at each of GEO’s facilities."

Oct 23, 2014 stateswithoutnations.blogspot.com

GEO Sued
for Minimum Wage and Forced Labor Law Violations, and Unjust Enrichment

Yesterday,
Alejandro Menoca, Marcos Brambila, Grisel Xahuentitla, Hugo Hernandez,
Lourdes, Argueta, Jesus Gaytan, Olga Alexaklina, Dagaberto Vizguerra, and
Demetrio Valerga on their own behalf and others similarly situated filed a
complaint informing a federal judge that their guards were breaking the
law.The complaint, filed by
an intrepid team of lawyers who spent extensive time interviewing detainees
at the GEO facility in Aurora, Colorado, states: In the course of their
employment by GEO, Plaintiffs and others scrubbed bathrooms, showers,
toilets, and windows throughout GEO’s Aurora facility. They cleaned and
maintained GEO’s on-site medical facility, cleaned the medical facility’s
toilets, floors and windows, cleaned patient rooms and medical staff
offices, swept, mopped, stripped, and waxed the floors of the medical
facility, did medical facility laundry, swept, mopped, stripped, and waxed
floors throughout the facility, did detainee laundry, prepared and served
detainee meals, assisted in preparing catered meals for law enforcement
events sponsored by GEO, performed clerical work for GEO, prepared clothing
for newly arriving detainees, provided barber services to detainees, ran
the facility’s law library, cleaned the facility’s intake area and solitary
confinement unit, deep cleaned and prepared vacant portions of the facility
for newly arriving detainees, cleaned the facility’s warehouse, and
maintained the exterior and landscaping of the GEO building, inter alia.
The complaint also includes violations of a federal law prohibiting Forced
Labor, 18 U.S.C. § 1589: 5. GEO or its agents also randomly selected
six detainees per pod each day and forced them to clean the pods. In the
handbook that GEO distributed to the detainees, GEO announced a “Housing
Unit Sanitation” policy informing the people held at the facility that
“[e]ach and every detainee must participate in the facility’s sanitation
program.” 6. GEO or its agents forced Plaintiffs and other civil
immigration detainees to clean the facility’s pods for no pay and under
threat of solitary confinement as punishment for any refusal to work. And
the complaint references Colorado Common Law prohibiting Unjust Enrichment.
In precise and riveting language the 21 page brief brilliantly lays out the
legal problems with the private prison industry's business model. The
attorneys who filed this lawsuit are Brandt Milstein, Boulder, CO; Andrew
Turner, Denver, CO; Alexander Hood, Golden, CO; Hans Meyer, Denver, CO; and
Andrew Free, Nashville, TN. I have been filing FOIA requests on this topic
for several years and Andrew Free is currently representing me in
extricating additional material for use in a working paper that will be revised
for publication next year in the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal.
For more research on related violations, please go here.

February 16, 2009 The
Aurora SentinelAbout 50 people from various advocacy groups gathered near an Aurora
detention facility Monday, Feb. 16, to rally for changes to the nation’s
immigration policies and an end to raids on suspected illegal immigrants.
The vigil, which was organized by local clergy, was one of more than 100
actions across the country aimed at “demonstrating the faith communities’
commitment to inject humanity and compassion into the public dialogue on
immigration,” organizers said in a statement. Jennifer Piper, of the Quaker
organization American Friends Service Committee, said ending raids was one
of the main goals of the vigil. “These raids really tear families and
workers out of our community,” Piper said. The vigil brought out a diverse
crowd with participants ranging from toddlers to senior citizens. The group
clutched candles, said prayers and spoke about their concerns. “All faith
traditions share a common mandate to welcome and care for all members of
our community and love our neighbors as ourselves,” Jeremy Shaver,
executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, said in a
statement. “As people of faith, we must keep that in the forefront of our
minds as we approach the complex issue of immigration.” Organizers said
recent immigration raids have been destructive for immigrants’ families and
they hope the vigils lead to change in Washington. “We call on President
Obama and members of Congress to demonstrate the courage to pass
immigration policies that uphold and protect the dignity and human rights
of all,” Shaver said. The vigil was held just a few blocks from a privately
owned and operated detention facility that houses suspected illegal
immigrants. Florida-based GEO Group, which owns the facility, has plans to
expand it — a proposal that has come under fire from immigrant groups.

January 8, 2008 Colorado
Confidential
A former corrections employee is suing prison contractor The GEO Group,
operator of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention
facility in Aurora. In a suit filed in Denver District Court, former GEO
employee Celia Ramirez alleges the company failed to follow its own
anti-discrimination policies. According to the suit, filed in December,
Ramirez was employed by GEO as a detention officer at the Aurora ICE lockup
for just over two years before being fired for failing to return lockup
keys to their designated area. However, in the suit Ramirez contends that
another GEO worker, Jennifer Beauman, took the keys and placed them on the
facility's roof to retaliate against the plaintiff for reporting the
employee for inappropriate conduct. According to the suit, Beauman is
reported to have engaged in erratic behavior, such as angrily slamming
doors and flicking lights on and off in the presence of inmates. Attempts
to reach Beauman were unsuccessful. The suit alleges Beauman
"joked" about taking the keys to get back at Ramirez, before the
keys went missing. A maintenance worker is reported to have later found the
keys on the facility's rooftop. The crux of the lawsuit contends that
Ramirez was discriminated against for her gender and Latino ethnicity, and
that GEO failed to enforce written policies of barring gender or race
discrimination as stipulated in the company's employee handbook. Pablo
Paez, a spokesman for the GEO Group, said that it is the company's
corporate policy not to discuss pending litigation. Lisa Sahli, the
attorney who filed the suit, said that Ramirez had obtained another
attorney and that she could not speak further on the case because she is no
longer Ramirez's legal counsel. Attempts to contact Ramirez were also
unsuccessful. The suit comes as GEO is set to expand its Aurora ICE
facility by more than 1000 beds, tripling the current threshold of 400
beds. Ramirez is seeking to bring the case to a jury, according to court
documents.

December 19, 2007 Denver
Post
A private company operating the Colorado immigration detention center in
Aurora plans to sink $72 million into an expansion that will more than
triple the size of the facility based on Senate proposals to expand border
enforcement and bed space for illegal-immigrant detainees. The expansion would
turn the 400-bed facility into a 1,500-bed center, making it second in size
only to the 2,000-bed Raymondville, Texas, site, according to U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Aurora site is in a warehouse area
near East 30th Avenue and Peoria Street. The plan by Florida-based GEO
Group, which owns and operates the facility, has raised concerns among
national and local immigrant- and civil-rights groups and the neighborhood
associations in the area. The expansion is expected to be complete in late
2009. A company spokesman did not return numerous calls, but GEO chairman
and chief executive George Zoley detailed the plan recently in a call with
analysts. GEO estimates the 1,100 new beds will raise an additional $30
million in annual revenue, Zoley said during the call. Opponents of the
plan say their concerns are based partly on the lack of access to internal
audits of the facility and recent government reviews showing inadequacies.
"One of the major issues is that GEO has a really spotty record in
running these sorts of facilities," said Chandra Russo, a community
organizer for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. "Our concern
with a private corporation running a prison is that its profits depend on
more prisoners. What is the benefit for the community?" Neighbors are
also worried about real estate values and environmental impact. ICE denies
any connection with the expansion the private company is planning with its
own money, said ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok. Currently, the ICE contract for
the Aurora facility is for 400 beds, but the deal is up for review each
year for the next four years. "If they expand the facility, unless
they modify the contract, there is nothing to say those additional beds
would be used or contracted by ICE," Rusnok said. Still, national and
local immigrant groups are concerned about the expansion at the facility,
where they say reports and audits have been slow or not publicly released.
Several years ago, the National Immigration Law Center asked the courts to
demand that ICE release internal reviews of contract facilities and won.
But ICE has been lax in providing the most recent two years' worth of
reviews, said Karen Tumlin, attorney with NILC. "Until ICE is willing
to release all of the reviews, we don't want to see these levels of
expansion," she said. In July, the Government Accountability Office
found problems at several of the detention centers from May 2006 to May
2007. The GAO did not find extreme cases but noted issues at 16 of 17 ICE
centers with phone calls to pro bono legal help. In Aurora, the report also
found that hold rooms exceeded capacity and log books were not maintained
to show how long people were in rooms or when they had their last meal. In
October 2006, reviews found the Aurora site in violation for lack of
cleanliness in food service. The report also said the center had portable
beds in aisles because of overcrowding. Rusnok said many of the problems
identified by the GAO have since been rectified and that ICE has no plans
based on the Senate proposal. Zoley, during the call, cited a proposed
bill, which provides for additional funding to increase border-patrol
agents and increase detention bed space by more than 5,000 beds. "We
believe that this increase in bed funding will result in additional opportunities
for the private sector," he said. The Department of Homeland Security
expects the undocumented population, estimated to be around 12 million, to
grow by 400,000 annually. The total number of illegal immigrants in
administrative proceedings who spend some time in detention annually
increased from 95,702 in 2001 to 283,115 in 2006. Detention bed space
increased from 19,702 in 2001 to 27,500 last year. After the first of the
year, NILC plans to ask for a moratorium on expansions of these types of facilities
until ICE can ensure minimum compliance with its standards, Tumlin said.

July 11, 2007 Government
Executive Magazine
In a recent review of federal facilities used to detain suspected illegal
immigrants, the Government Accountability Office found a lack of telephone
access to be a pervasive problem, potentially preventing detainees from
contacting legal counsel, their countries' consulates or complaint
hotlines. The GAO review included visits to 23 detention centers housing
immigrants awaiting adjudication or deportation. The watchdog agency
observed the centers -- run by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement
agency within the Homeland Security Department -- for compliance with
nonbinding national detention standards. Of the 23 facilities GAO reviewed,
17 had telephone systems allowing detainees to make free phone calls
seeking assistance. In 16 of these 17 facilities, however, GAO found
systemic problems hindering phone access. Issues ranged from inaccurate or
outdated numbers posted by the phones to technical problems preventing
completion of calls, the report (GAO-07-875) stated. The review found
instances where the centers fell short of standards in other areas, such as
medical care, use of force and food services, but said these instances did not
necessarily indicate a larger pattern of noncompliance. "While it is
true that the only pervasive problem we identified related to the telephone
system -- a problem later confirmed by ICE's testing -- we cannot state
that the other deficiencies we identified in our visits were
isolated," said Richard Stana, director of homeland security and
justice issues at GAO, in the report. GAO recommended that ICE regularly
update the posted numbers for legal services, consulates and reporting
violations of detainee treatment standards and test phone systems to ensure
that they are in working order. In a response to a draft of the report,
Steven Pecinovsky, director of the Homeland Security Department's
GAO/Office of the Inspector General Liaison Office, said ICE concurred with
its recommendations and had taken immediate steps to implement them. In
particular, ICE has started random testing to ensure the phones can access
the necessary numbers. While GAO did not find evidence of widespread
disregard for national detention standards, there have been recent calls
for more oversight of immigrant detention facilities and codification of
standards. According to the American Bar Association's Commission on
Immigration, the fact that the standards are not codified means "their
violation does not confer a cause of action in court." On Monday, the
American Civil Liberties Union called on Congress to codify the standards,
expressing concern over the causes of death for the 62 immigrants who have
died in ICE custody since 2004. GAO's report cited several instances of
noncompliance in the standards for medical care, but almost all were a
failure to complete the routine physical exams required for all detainees.
The only other issue cited was the failure of one detention center to have
a first aid kit available. The ACLU argued there are far more serious
medical failures occurring in immigrant detention centers. "Inadequate
medical care has led to unnecessary suffering and death," the ACLU
said in a statement. "In addition, there is no mechanism in place for
reporting deaths in immigration detention to any oversight body, including
the [Office of the Inspector General] and, therefore, there are no routine
investigations into deaths in ICE custody."

September 27, 2002
Security guards at the Wackenhut INS detention facility in Aurora quelled a
disturbance Thursday. The disruption was caused by several detainees during
the lunch hour, said Nina Pruneda- Muniz, Denver District spokeswoman for
the Immigration and Naturalization Service. "It got handled in a very
timely manner," Pruneda-Muniz said. "We were able to defuse any
situation from going any further." Agents were determining how many
prisoners were involved and why the confrontation erupted, she said. (Rocky
Mountain News)

Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre, Arthur Gorrie, QueenslandSep 16,
2018 dailymail.co.ukPrisoner,
21, dies in shared jail cell after being found unconscious by security
guardsA
21-year-old prisoner has died in his Brisbane jail cell after being found
unconscious. The inmate was found by guards in a shared cell at around
11.30 pm on Saturday at the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre. Prison
officers administered CPR but he was declared dead when paramedics arrived
around midnight, a Queensland Corrective Services spokeswoman said on
Sunday. Queensland Police have been notified of the man's death and are
being assisted in their inquiries by Queensland Corrective Services. The
prisoner's death in the shared cell comes after it was revealed in a 2017
report there were around 315 'double-up' cells at the Brisbane prison and
prison population had increased by 35 per cent since 2012. The report also
revealed a 500 per cent increase in serious assault as well as a 700 per
cent spike in sexual assault between 2013 and 2016. One former inmate, who
left the jail in April, said the facility was 'one of the most nastiest and
corrupt prisons I've ever been in,' according to ABC News. In an 18 month
period leading up to September 2017, 37 inmates had attempted suicide -
compared to just two in 2012.
A prison
officer at the jail said under the cover of anonymity that overcrowding was
a major reason behind a rise in violence and attempted suicide. They said:
'It's drastically overcrowded. It seems calm as anything then all of a
sudden, it'll kick-off and some are huge incidents with multiple people
involved. Arthur Gorrie is one of two private prisons in Queensland,
managed by GEO Group Australia.Mar 23,
2018 4bc.com.au Handcuff key missing for three days in notorious jailAn investigation is underway after a handcuff key went missing from
Queensland’s Arthur Gorrie jail. Ray Hadley received a tip on Thursday that
the key had been lost on March 15 and wasn’t found until three days later.
It’s the second time in a week the prison’s operator GEO Group has come
under fire. An extendable baton was stolen from guards at Parklea
Correctional Centre last week and still hasn’t been found. Queensland
Corrective Services has released a statement following the incident: “At
about 5pm on March 15, a custodial officer at Arthur Gorrie Correctional
Centre reported a handcuff key missing. A range of searches were conducted
throughout the facility before the key was located on March 18. An
investigation is underway, and, as it is considered a major security
incident, GEO is required to provide a report into the incident to
Queensland Correctional Services.” GEO Group has a history of dismal
administration at the Parklea facility and their contract has now been
terminated.Sep 29,
2017 couriermail.com.auArthur
Gorrie and Southern Queensland correctional centre management contracts out
to tender
QUEENSLAND’S high-security private jails, deemed unsafe by staff, are set
for the biggest shake-up in 10 years as management contracts go out to
tender. Arthur Gorrie and Southern Queensland jails could get new
management after the State Government expressed its desire to have a local
operator. However, there are currently no jail management operators in
Queensland, opening the door for international applications. American-based
GEO group currently runs the high-risk Arthur Gorrie and UK-based SERCO
runs Southern Queensland, near Gatton, however both have been criticised
for their management and treatment of staff. Queensland Minister for Police
and Corrective Services Mark Ryan says a “Backing Queensland Jobs” policy
will apply to prison contracts. Staff claim the prisons have become
dangerous to work in, with not enough guards to patrol overcrowded units.
Strikes took place at Arthur Gorrie earlier this year as tensions reached
breaking point, with claims officers were forced to supervise more than 60
inmates. The number of inmates at the jail was yesterday 1175, or more than
30 per cent over capacity. The two providers were given a six-month
contract extension until mid-2018 but Corrections Minister Mark Ryan said
the tender would have a “Backing Queensland Jobs” policy. Potential
operators could include Core Civic, the largest private company in the US,
which has also been criticised for understaffing and violence. One of its
prisons was dubbed “Gladiator School”. Privately run prisons save the State
Government about $10 million a year. A Queensland audit report last year
found it cost the State Government $175 per prisoner a day, but private
operators were about 20 per cent cheaper. Opposition corrections spokesman
Tim Mander said: “This news only adds to the uncertainty around our prisons
which have been turned into fight clubs under Labor because they have
failed to deal with chronic overcrowding.” It’s unclear if the jails will
be advertised as one contract or if they will be separated.Jul 8, 2017
dailymail.co.uk High-security Queensland prison enters second day of lockdown amid
claims of overcrowding, drugs and prisoner violenceA Queensland high security prison remains in lockdown after correctives
officers were refused entry by the facility's state government-employed
operators. Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre in Brisbane's southeast went
into lockdown at 6am on Friday over an industrial relations dispute. The
lockdown started when 40 corrections officers were refused entry to the
establishment after a long-running dispute over work conditions. It comes
amid ongoing enterprise bargaining negotiations between staff and the state
government contracted GEO Group. United Voice spokesman Damien Davie said
GEO Group had formally notified union members the staff lockout would
continue on Saturday, reported Sky News. Mr Davie said prison staff had
called on the company to boost staff numbers to deal with overcrowding.
'There's currently one officer to between 36 and 40 (inmates), and
sometimes as bad as one to 62. There should be two on the floor at all
times.' He said staff shortages had led to assaults on officers, prisoner
violence, drugs in the prison going undetected and prisoner behaviour not
being properly addressed. A spokesman for Queensland Corrective Services
said it would not seek to interfere or influence EBA negotiations. 'In the
event of industrial action, GEO is responsible to ensure the safe and
secure operation of the facility,' said in a statement. Responding to
concerns that staff and inmate safety would be put at greater risk once the
lockdown was lifted, GEO Group spokesman Ken Davis said on Friday they
planned to cool heightened tensions among inmates with icecream.'I don't know what (the prison manager)
will do when he lifts it ... we can go out and buy them ice creams or
something like that for their dessert,' Mr Davis said.A correctional officer at the centre said
it currently housed around 1200 inmates, despite having a single bed
capacity for 890 men with a maximum security wing for up to 18 inmates. 'In
the last couple of months we've had an officer knocked unconscious,' he
said. The officer told AAP the flow of undetected drugs had also risen, the
most common being Subutex, generally used to treat opioid addiction but
abused by inmates. He also said requests to double staff numbers and
address a culture of bullying had been ignored. 'There is a culture of bullying
from management and it comes down through the supervisors,' he said. 'They
just don't seem to want to hear about it. They, I believe, are more
concerned about their profits.' GEO Group spokesman Ken Davis declined to
provide the current officer to inmate ratio, referred questions about
staffing to the state government and denied bullying claims. He said only
two reports of bullying had been made in the 2016/17 financial year and
that both were found to be unsubstantiated. Mr Davis also denied Mr Davie's
claims staff assaults were under-reported and said additional officers were
brought on when the prison was over-crowded.

Jul 7, 2017 dailymail.co.uk That should help them chill out! Security says it will give ICECREAM to
angry inmates at locked down high security prisonA company employed by the Queensland government to manage a
high-security prison in lockdown over an industrial relations dispute says
it will cool heightened-tensions among inmates with ice cream. The Arthur
Gorrie Correction Centre in Brisbane's southeast went into lockdown about
6am on Friday when 40 corrections officers were refused entry due to a
long-running dispute over work conditions. It comes amid ongoing enterprise
bargaining negotiations between staff and the state government contracted
GEO Group. Responding to concerns that staff and inmate safety would be put
at greater risk once the lockdown was lifted, GEO Group spokesman Ken Davis
said the prison's general manager would buy prisoners ice cream. 'I don't
know what (the prison manager) will do when he lifts it ... we can go out
and buy them ice creams or something like that for their dessert,' Mr Davis
said. United Voice spokesman Damien Davie said staff had called on the
company to boost staff numbers to deal with overcrowding. 'There's
currently one officer to between 36 and 40 (inmates), and sometimes as bad
as one to 62. There should be two on the floor at all times. 'That is
leading to assaults on our members, it's leading to prisoner violence,
drugs in the prison going undetected, prisoner behaviour not being
corrected, just sheerly due to the lack of boots on the ground.' A
correctional officer at the centre said it currently housed around 1200
inmates, despite having a single bed capacity for 890 men with a maximum security
wing for up to 18 inmates. 'In the last couple of months we've had an
officer knocked unconscious,' he said. The officer told AAP the flow of
undetected drugs had also risen, the most common being Subutex, generally
used to treat opioid addiction but abused by inmates. He also said requests
to double staff numbers and address a culture of bullying had been ignored.
'There is a culture of bullying from management and it comes down through
the supervisors,' he said. 'They just don't seem to want to hear about it.
They, I believe, are more concerned about their profits.' GEO Group
spokesman Ken Davis declined to provide the current officer to inmate
ratio, referred questions about staffing to the state government and denied
bullying claims. He said only two reports of bullying had been made in the
2016/17 financial year and that both were found to be unsubstantiated. Mr
Davis also denied Mr Davie's claims staff assaults were under-reported and
said additional officers were brought on when the prison was over-crowded.
A spokesman for Queensland Corrective Services said it would not seek to
interfere or influence EBA negotiations. 'In the event of industrial
action, GEO is responsible to ensure the safe and secure operation of the
facility,' said in a statement.Jun 25,
2017 ouriermail.com.au Raw sewage dumped behind Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre after jail
sewage pump failureA TRUCK shipped sewage out of a Brisbane jail for weeks after a pump
“mechanical failure” in one of the cell blocks. The Courier-Mail has been
told the truck dumped the waste near railway lines behind Arthur Gorrie
Correctional Centre after the breakdown in “Whiskey Block”. The Department
of Environment and Heritage Protection was notified. “A sewage truck pumped
out tanks every two hours and dumps raw sewage,” a prison source said,
claiming it was at risk of flowing into the nearby creek. “In one of the
prisoner blocks the sewerage system has been broken for months.” The Arthur
Gorrie Correctional centre in Wacol. The waste was reportedly dumped near
the railway line behind the jail. The truck was used to pick up the waste
and dump it for up to 12 hours a day for weeks before a pump was fixed this
month. A Queensland Corrective Services spokeswoman confirmed there was a
mechanical failure of a sewage pump. Questions about costs, how much was
transported and if environmental reports were gathered were not answered.
The jail is run privately by GEO Group but the Department of Public Works
looks after facilities. “The pump was repaired as quickly as possible,” the
QCS spokeswoman said. “For a period of time sewage was transported off
site. We are not aware of any effluent spillage.” The Department of
Environment and Heritage Protection was advised the sewage pump station
overflow released an unknown amount of untreated wastewater to land, a day
after it happened in April. “The Department of Housing and Public Works
reported that the contaminant had been contained on-site and was not
released to the receiving environment,” a spokesman said. “Appropriate
steps were taken to isolate and clean the area.” The jail’s management also
engaged environmental consultants to help with the clean up. “The potential
for environmental harm was low and no further compliance action is required
at this stage,” the spokesman said. It comes as 10-year contracts for
Arthur Gorrie and Southern Queensland jails are about to end. The
Courier-Mail has been told they are likely to get a one-year extension –
without it necessarily being put out to tender. A spokeswoman said
“commercial in-confidence applies to all government contracts”. “QCS
strictly adheres to all guidelines around the conclusion of contracts and
the tendering process.”Aug 14, 2014 brisbanetimes.com

A prison officer at Arthur Gorrie
Correctional Centre has been stood down after she publicly raised concerns
about resources and over-crowding at the Wacol prison. United Voice union
delegate Kylie Muscat on Tuesday went public with her concerns following
the assault of a fellow prison officer on Friday morning. She said
overcrowding, under-resourcing and a prisoners' smoking ban had made
conditions for prison staff unsafe. The story was first published by
Fairfax Media about 1.30pm on Tuesday. United Voice prisons co-ordinator
Michael Clifford said within a few hours of that story appearing online Ms
Muscat had been suspended on full pay. “She’s pretty devastated, but she’s
also a very courageous union delegate who knows what she’s doing is the
right thing,” he said. Management of the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre
has been outsourced to the Sydney-based GEO Group since 1992. A spokesman
for GEO said the only comment the company would make was that Ms Muscat had
been “suspended for breaching company policy”. Mr Clifford said Ms Muscat
had been suspended as an act of “pure intimidation”. “This is an employer
who should be addressing the safety issues that Kylie is raising. Instead
of addressing the safety issues, they’re attacking the person that’s trying
to have them addressed,” he said. “This is just about intimidating people
into silence. “There’s a lot of talk in this country about free speech, but
there’s a lot of employers who think free speech stops the minute you walk
inside the workplace, that you don’t have a right to raise these sorts of
issues.” Mr Clifford said Ms Muscat’s actions were protected under the Fair
Work Act section 346, which protects people involved in industrial activity
from “adverse action”. “She is a union delegate – she can and should raise
safety issues and, if they’re not being addressed, she should do whatever
it takes to make sure they are addressed and that’s what she was doing,” he
said. “…Kylie was fulfilling her role as a union delegate and not talking
as an employee of Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre. “Under the Fair Work
Act, union delegates have rights to pursue the industrial interests of
their members without any adverse action from employers. “So, our union
will be writing to GEO today. They can expect a letter from our lawyers
identifying that we believe they are in breach of those provisions of the
act and we’ll be asking them to cease any action they’re taking against
Kylie.” The GEO spokesman would not comment on United Voice’s claim the
move breached the Fair Work Act. Mr Clifford said the union would back Ms
Muscat “100 per cent of the way”. “It’s not just Kylie,” he said. “All
union delegates and members know that they have the right to speak up about
safety issues in the workplace, particularly when those safety issues are
life threatening.”

November 24, 2013
heraldsun.com.au

YEARS in US and Thai jails, a
book published about his drug smuggling exploits - resumes don't come much
more colourful than Phil Sparrowhawk's. Yet when he applied for a job at
Brisbane's Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre, nobody bothered to ask about
his dark international past. Sparrowhawk, who managed to humiliate prison
authorities by working undetected under their noses for three years,
revealed yesterday just how easily he pulled off the extraordinary security
breach. And in another damning twist, The Sunday Mail can reveal the prison
management's claim on Friday that Sparrowhawk worked only as an
administration clerk and had no prisoner contact was wrong. Yesterday the
red-faced jail was forced to admit Sparrowhawk interviewed incoming
prisoners daily and held roles which allowed him to access all prisoners'
files and records. In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Mail, Philip
Sparrowhawk has revealed how he even worked with prisoners as a corrective
services officer inside the jail. Sparrowhawk, the subject of a Random
House book, Grass, about his former international drug smuggling lifestyle,
says nobody at the jail ever asked him any questions about his past.
Although prison managers GEO on Friday claimed Sparrowhawk only worked as
an administration clerk, with no prisoner contact, it has now confirmed he
had daily contact with prisoners. GEO spokesman Ken Davis said yesterday
Sparrowhawk was an administration clerk, but also worked in sentence
management administration and as a prisoner classification specialist. The
jobs allowed him access to all prisoners' files and computer records and he
interviewed incoming prisoners. Mr Davis said once the prison became aware
of internet stories about him being a drug smuggler and ex-prisoner, checks
revealed no evidence he was involved with drugs in jail. "I do deny I
was a drug smuggler. I was never convicted of anything,'' Sparrowhawk says.
"If you are asked have you ever killed anybody you don't say 'yes I
have', you say 'I've never been convicted of it'.'' Sparrowhawk, who worked
in Arthur Gorrie from March, 2010, was suspended in September and sacked
three weeks ago, says he had nothing to do with drugs inside the jail. When
asked why he wanted to work in a Queensland jail after having been in
overseas prisons he says he just wanted a job and he loved the work.
"I never abused my position at GEO," he said. "I took every
available course and test available … and passed all requirements''
Sparrowhawk says he was arrested in Thailand, held in jails there and then
extradited to the US where he was charged with racketeering as part of a
criminal organisation. After five years of being moved between more than 40
jails, he says the charge was dropped. Sparrowhawk claims there are "a
lot of people working at Arthur Gorrie who are involved with a criminal
organisation''. Speaking about how he got his prison job so easily he said:
"You fill out an application form and I answered it truthfully''.
Sparrowhawk is cagey when questioned about the book, which claims he was a
large-scale cannabis dealer from Thailand who was targeted by the US Drug
Enforcement Agency. He says the book, which has his name on the cover, was
written by others and any money he received he donated to charity. Former
UK drug lord and convicted racketeer Howard Marks, known as Mr Nice, who is
a friend of Sparrowhawk, referred to him on the book cover as "Mr
Big''. Sparrowhawk hints at having been involved with British secret
intelligence service MI6, as does Marks. When asked about it he says:
"I've worked for a lot of people and I've signed a lot of these
official secret acts for a lot of different countries.'' Sparrowhawk says
he has left Australia and is about to take up a consultancy for a security
agency in Vienna.

March 11, 2010 ABCQueensland's Indigenous community will march on State Parliament today,
enraged over the circumstances surrounding a recent death in custody. An
18-year-old prisoner died late last month and there are claims Brisbane
jail staff denied him adequate medical treatment even though he was too
sick to walk. Today's march coincides with the reopened inquest into the
controversial Palm Island death in custody. Prison chaplain Reverend Alex
Gator says inmates at the Arthur Gorrie correctional centre called her with
news of the latest tragedy last month. "This young youth, only 18
years of age, he had spent five weeks on remand and then the five weeks he
was at Arthur Gorrie he became ill, so he was ill for six days," she said.
"The first time he'd gone to the medical centre he was given Panadol,
other times he'd gone he was told that there was nothing wrong with him. So
he was repeatedly denied medical assistance. "Towards the end the boys
had to carry him, the Murri boys in his unit had to carry him, because he
could hardly walk. "They nearly caused a riot, the Murri boys. They
yelled out to the officer, 'get him to the hospital' because something was
wrong with him. "And one officer made the comment, 'Well if he can go
to the toilet, there's nothing wrong with him'." Reverend Gator says
the teenager was ultimately rushed to hospital and put on life support. But
he died a few days later on February 20. "I conducted a memorial
service. The boys said they only saw him a couple of weeks ago talking,
laughing, joking and next thing they hear this young man is dead," she
said. Reverend Gator says the teenager should never have been put in jail
because he had a serious pre-existing medical condition. "That is the
question we're asking - why? Why was he in prison, not in hospital? I mean
he wasn't a terrorist, a paedophile, rapist or a murderer," she said.
"He was in there for a misdemeanour. And as far as I'm concerned, it's
just racial discrimination towards Aboriginal people. This is about racial
hatred attitudes towards Aboriginal people. "They're deliberately
turned away and told there's nothing wrong with them. And Corrective
Services have failed in their duty of care to provide a service to this
young man." 'Could have been avoided' -- Brisbane Indigenous community
leader Sam Watson says news of the death in custody has spread like
wildfire. "We are very concerned about this because this appears to be
yet another Aboriginal death in custody that could have been avoided, that
should have been avoided," he said. Queensland Corrective Services has
issued a written statement saying "there are no suspicious
causes" in the teenager's death. The statement adds that all deaths in
custody are referred to the coroner and to the chief inspector of prisons
for investigation. But Mr Watson says the Indigenous community is calling
on the Queensland Government to instigate a full coronial inquest.
"There have to be a lot of questions answered. We want to get to the
bottom of this and we want to do it very, very quickly," he said.

June 1, 2008 Courier Mail
A CAREER criminal on remand for assault was accidentally released from a
privately run Brisbane jail last week. Three prison staff have been
suspended over the security bungle at the Arthur Gorrie correctional centre
at Wacol in Brisbane's west. Prison sources said the breach occurred when
staff were processing the inmate for release into police custody. Police
had been granted a court order to remove the inmate on Tuesday in relation
to a break-and-enter investigation. However, prison staff discharged the
inmate for release and gave him his property. Police arrived to collect him
from a high-security area at the rear of the jail, which is used for
transferring inmates, but they were directed to the reception area.
Queensland Corrective Services denied the man was wrongfully discharged,
saying the jail's operator, the GEO Group Australia, had reported there had
been a "breach of internal security procedures". She said at no
time was the inmate, who has since been returned to the jail, not in prison
or police custody. She confirmed jail management suspended three staff as a
result of an internal report on the incident and an investigation was under
way. State Opposition prisons spokesman Vaughan Johnson demanded a full
investigation into the incident, saying the jail had mismanaged the
custodial process.

January 19, 2008 ABCPrison guards who walked off the job at Queensland's biggest remand
centre yesterday are now back at work. Brisbane's Arthur Gorrie Correctional
Centre had been locked down since Friday afternoon, with only a skeleton
management team running the centre and police patrolling the perimetre. The
guards began their strike after being ordered to stop handcuffing
prisonners with their hands behind their backs. The remand facility
operators, Geo, had requested a hearing before the Industrial Relations
Commission this morning, but Geo spokesman Pierre Langford says Geo and the
Miscellaneous Workers Union representing the guards will instead continue their
talks on Monday. "I suppose I would like to say on behalf of Geo Group
Australia that we appreciate the assistance that the commission has
provided us with today," he said. "At this point in time the
parties have agreed to get back together early next week, to have further
discussions and our employees have returned to work today, so we're pleased
with that."

October 25, 2006 Townsville Bulletin
A TENDER for the state's two privately-run prisons is not a criticism of
the current operators, the Queensland Government said today. Corrective
Services Minister Judy Spence said new tenders to run Borallon and Arthur
Gorrie correctional centres, valued at a total of $200 million, would
ensure taxpayers got value for money. "It is not about the performance
of the current operators,'' Ms Spence said. The has been under fire in recent years
over a number of deaths in custody, security failures and assaults on
prisoners by staff. Borallon made headlines four years ago when a report
showed it had the highest rate of illicit drug use in the state, with
almost one in three prisoners using drugs. Four companies will be invited
to tender: GEO Group Australia Pty Ltd, GSL Australia Pty Ltd, Management
and Training Corporation Pty Ltd and Serco Australia Pty Ltd. GEO currently
operates Arthur Gorrie, and Management and Training Corporation operates
Borallon. Ms Spence said the contracts would be for five years, with an
option for Queensland Corrective Services to extend them for a further five
years. The tenders will be evaluated in the first half of next year with
new contracts to start on January 1, 2008. An independent probity auditor
has been contracted to oversee the entire project.

November 30, 2005 Australian
THE bonus and penalty system on which private prisons in Australia are run
has been accused of encouraging operators to cover up riots and drug abuse
by prisoners. Queensland Prison Officers Association secretary Brian Newman
yesterday accused private prison operators of covering up incidents in
their facilities that could threaten performance bonuses worth up to
$500,000 a year. "Nine years ago I worked at Arthur Gorrie
(Correctional Centre at Wacol, west of Brisbane) and I would make drug
finds but the drugs would be flushed down the toilet in front of me by senior
officials," Mr Newman said. "You were powerless to do anything
about it. "Anecdotal evidence given to me is that it still goes on
today. There is no incentive for privately run prisons to report
incidents." The management contract of Arthur Gorrie operator, the GEO
Group, formerly known as Australasian Correctional Management, with the
Queensland Government provides a $500,000 performance bonus to prevent
crime, drug abuse and riots. The Arthur Gorrie contract, a copy of which
has been obtained by The Australian, says the $500,000 bonus will be
reduced by $100,000 for each escape, "loss of control (riot)" or
death in custody. Penalties of $25,000 are also imposed for a string of
problems such as discharging a prisoner in error, assaults by prisoners resulting
in injury or a case of self-harm or attempted suicide. Other incidents that
incur the $25,000 penalty include serious industrial injuries, deliberately
lit fires, major security breaches such as attempted escapes or
hostage-taking and loss of high-risk restricted articles. If random urine
tests disclose that drug use in the prison is higher than 9 per cent and
does not reduce towards the target of 4per cent, the penalty applicable is
also $25,000. The bonuses and penalty provisions are the same for the
contracts the GEO Group, the Australian subsidiary of the Miami-based
Wackenhut, has with the Victorian and NSW governments to run the Melbourne
Custody Centre and the Fulham and Junee prisons. Mr Newman said his
association had asked the Queensland Government to conduct an inquiry into
allegations by staff at Arthur Gorrie that "incidents" had been
covered up "to avoid financial penalty to breach of contract".
GEO Group is paid almost $800 a week for each of the 710 prisoners housed
at Arthur Gorrie. A spokesman for Queensland Corrective Services Minister
Judy Spence yesterday confirmed that contracts for privately run prisons
did provide for performance bonuses. "However, we are not able to
confirm amounts or any details on payments or deductions regarding the
bonuses as these matters are commercial in confidence," he said. Col
Kelaher, GEO Group executive manager of operations, said he could not
comment on the contract with the Government.

January 26, 2005 South-West News
WORKERS at the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre at Wacol staged a strike
from noon Friday to 5pm on Saturday over a wages and conditions dispute.
The Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union accused correctional centre
owners GEO Group of not meeting its obligations under the Queensland
Industrial Relations Act. Union prisons organiser David Pullen said the
centre's 700 prisoners were locked down in cells during the strike. GEO
group managing director Pieter Bezuidenhout said the action ended after an
IRC officer recommended a return to work.

December 24, 2004 Courier MailQUEENSLAND'S prisons are overcrowded and urgently require more funding
to stop the growing number of inmate deaths, a report by a state coroner
has found. The findings came at
the end of an inquiry into the suicide of prisoner William Mark Bailey in
November 2002 at the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre. Deputy state
coroner Christine Clements found no one else was responsible for Bailey's
death and recommended no further action. Arthur Gorrie, a
remand and reception centre that temporarily holds prisoners awaiting court
hearings, can hold up to 800 people. It is managed by GEO Group Australia
but owned by the Queensland Corrective Services department. "Evidence
was given that there are 250 cells at Arthur Gorrie but at the time of the
inquest there were 750 prisoners being held at the facility," Ms
Clements said.

Auckland Central Remand PrisonSeptember
28, 2009 NZCity
Further doubt is being cast on the claimed efficiency of privately run prisons.
The Green Party's pointing to evidence presented during Selected Committee
hearings on private prisons legislation about the historical cost of the
Auckland Remand Prison when it was in private hands. The Greens say it
shows the cost per prisoner was over $57 thousand a year compared to around
$50 thousand in the public system. The party says it proves there can be no
justification for claims private prisons are cheaper than public ones.
Meanwhile, special monitors are being proposed as part of the oversight for
privately run prisons. Parliament's Law and Order Select Committee has
reported back on the private prisons bill and is recommending additional
checks and balances be put in place. It advises special monitors employed
by the Department of Corrections be given free and unfettered access to the
facilities to ensure proper standards are met. The Committee also
recommends all private prison operators be required to comply with
instructions from the Chief Executive of the Corrections Department.

July 31, 2009 Radio New ZealandACT MP David Garrett says he does not believe he intimidated two
submitters to Parliament's law and order select committee, as alleged by
the Labour Party. Labour Party MP Clayton Cosgrove believes Mr Garrett
breached parliamentary privilege when he told two prison guards their
submission would stop them from getting a job in a privately run prison. He
says Mr Garrett's behaviour was shameful, and brought the select committee
process into disrepute. Mr Cosgrove says the guards had experience working
under private prison management and were providing expert opinions.
Corrections Minister Judith Collins has also weighed in, saying the
comments were totally inappropriate. But Mr Garrett says it was never his
intention to intimidate, and he is looking forward to responding to
Labour's complaint. Speaker of the House Lockwood Smith will decide whether
to refer the matter to Parliament's privileges committee.

July 29, 2009 3 NewsAn MP from government confidence and supply party ACT today told prison
officers who spoke out against private prisons that they had hurt their
future job prospects. David Garrett's remark came hot on the heals of
accusations yesterday that the Government attempted to intimidate and
silence people. Those claims were sparked by Social Development Minister
Paula Bennett releasing benefit details of two women who criticised a
government decision to cut a training allowance. Today a group of prison
officers, representing 30 officers who had previously worked for a
privately run prison, made a submission to Parliament's law and order
select committee which is considering legislation to enable private
operators to run prisons. After Bart Birch, Uaea Leavasa and Satish Prasad
criticised how Auckland Central Remand Prison was run under private
contractor GEO Ltd between 2000 and 2005, Mr Garrett weighed in. "You
say that you don't want to go back to working in this environment - to the
private (sector). You'd be aware that given your submission here, you
wouldn't get offered a job anyway, would you?" Other MPs on the
committee were visibly disturbed by the remark and National's Shane Ardern
was quick to reassure the men they should feel free to speak their minds
before a committee of Parliament. "Can I say from my own party you can
sit here without fear or favour," he said. Acting chairman on the
committee Labour MP Clayton Cosgrove added his support for Mr Ardern's
remark. Corrections Association of New Zealand president Beven Hanlon told
NZPA he thought the remark out of line. The union already had concerns
about Mr Garrett's involvement in the Sensible Sentencing Trust which
advocates for tougher and longer sentencing. "All the things that
private prisons advocate for," he said. "For him to then threaten
staff over (their) future employment is a great concern." Mr Cosgrove
described the comment as "Bennett mark two". "(People)
should be able to come to a select committee without fear or favour to give
their view." Mr Garrett's tone had been badgering and he carried that style
on when other submitters made presentations, Mr Cosgrove said. "I
think he needs to learn that we live in a democracy and in a democracy ...
you're allowed to have a view and we should (give) people the respect of
actually listening. "But he's behaving like a bully and I guess it is
Paula Bennett mark two." Mr Garrett stood by his comment when
questioned by media. "They were quite clearly extremely negative about
the private prison managing company. It would seem to be most unlikely they
would get a job with that company." He agreed the select committee
process should be open and MPs should not stymie free exchange but did not
think he had affected that. "They have the right to say whatever they
like ... I didn't see I was stymying free debate at all." Asked why he
felt compelled to talk about the officers' job prospects rather than ask
questions about the bill, Mr Garrett said their motives were relevant and
he had no regrets. "It was certainly no attempt to stifle the
debate." Mr Garrett walked away when NZPA asked him to comment on the
union view it was a threatening remark. In their submission, the officers
said they had worked both for GEO and the Corrections Department. Under
private management the focus was on protecting the company's reputation. They
said under GEO staff were told to resign rather than have negligence
revealed, an incident where a woman allegedly helped a relative escape was
not investigated, and systems were not robust in areas like drug control
and suicide. Another complaint was that GEO paid less for local workers and
used contractors from Australia to fill gaps who were on salaries as much
as $30,000 higher. Those contractors appeared unaware of cultural issues
for Maori and Pacific inmates. Other casual workers were used and had lower
levels of training and experience than full time staff who were not
familiar with the prison, which raised risk levels.

July 1, 2009 The National Business Review
The State should be responsible for prisoners not private companies, the
Human Rights Commission said today. Chief Human Rights Commissioner Rosslyn
Noonan appeared before Parliament's law and order select committee which is
considering the Corrections (Contract Management of Prisons Amendment)
Bill. Senior managers from private prison company GEO Group were present
and heard groups condemn their business. The firm ran Auckland Central
Remand Prison (ACRP) for five years until Labour won the 1999 election and
refused to renew its contract. Ms Noonan said protecting the rights of
detainees was a key function of government and should not be contracted
out. "The management of prisons involves the exercise of some of the
state's most coercive powers against individuals," the commission's
submission said. "There should be direct accountability for the
exercise of such powers. A government department directly accountable to a
minister provides the clearest accountability." If the bill was to go
ahead the commission wanted its monitoring measures beefed up.
Recommendations included protecting staff from being sacked if they gave
information to monitors and permitting prisoners to complain directly to
monitors. Also prisons should be required to comply with international
conventions around torture. Ms Noonan said early intervention would make
the biggest difference. She called for willingness across parties not to
make political capital out of the issue. Catholic organisation Caritas was
concerned problems in the United States' private prisons -- such as
beatings, rapes, suicides and other deaths in custody -- would be repeated
here. It noted that in the US the same people running private prisons were
also involved in lobbying government for longer sentences. GEO Group
Australia managing director Pieter Bezuidenhout said his company had
managed prisons in Australia for 17 years, operating in Queensland,
Victoria and New South Wales.

July 19, 2006 NewstalkZBThe Government has no plans to privatise prisons. United Future leader
Peter Dunne has asked about the Government's plans for prisons following a
Treasury report revealing each inmate costs $77,000 a year to be cared for.
The report recommends competition for prison services be introduced.
Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor is ruling out privatisation. He says
it is $10,000 a year cheaper to keep inmates in public prisons than the
private Auckland Central Remand Prison.

July
19, 2005 StuffAn inmate in Auckland's former private prison who
stowed away in a shipping container to depart New Zealand should be sent
back here to face rape charges, says a Fiji court. The Suva
Magistrate's Court recommended that Shumendra Nilesh Chandra, 30, a
computer operator, of Auckland be sent back to New Zealand.
Australasian Correctional Management, which managed Auckland Central Remand
Prison until its contract expired recently, had to pay the Government
$50,000 for the escape, under the terms of its contract. The company
said at the time that its investigation into how Chandra allegedly slipped
his handcuffs and fled guards was unable to find out how he did it.

July
13, 2005 Scoop
The return today of New Zealand's only privately run prison to public
sector management is an opportunity for the Corrections Department to prove
it can deliver a first-class service, Green Party Justice Spokesperson
Nandor Tanczos says. The Department took over management of Auckland
Central Remand Prison from the GEO Group at midnight last night. "The
Green Party welcomes the handover today of the management of the Auckland
Central Remand Prison to the public sector," Nandor says. "I call
on new Corrections Department CEO Barry Matthews to use this as an
opportunity to deliver best prison practice. There is no reason why the
public sector can't provide a better service than the private and now is
the time for Mr Matthews to demonstrate this. "International
experience shows widespread abuse and poor conditions in many privately run
prisons. ACRP was clearly a loss leader designed to be a foot in the door
for the private prison conglomerates. It is extremely unlikely that any
further private prisons here would all be run as well as ACRP was by Mr
Karauria and his team. "But the principle issue is that prisons must
be run by the public sector. As one of the most tangible manifestations of
state power, they must be fully accountable to the people of New Zealand. A
profit-driven service is ultimately only accountable to its overseas
shareholders."There have been some
clear cases of this lack of accountability in Australia. For example ACM,
the predecessor to Geo, placed a contractual obligation upon some of their
staff to not provide information to the judiciary, which would have the
effect of inhibiting the investigation of abuse and mismanagement. "It
must also be remembered that private prisons can have a corrupting
influence on the political system, in that they create a profit motive to
the lobby for longer custodial sentences. "The Green Party have taken
a number of steps to increase accountability in the public sector through
changes to the Corrections Act and a written commitment to the establishment
of an independent prison inspectorate from the Labour-led Government,"
Nandor says.

July
13, 2005 Scoop
The Public Service Association (PSA) is welcoming the return of the
Auckland Central Remand Prison to the public prisons service. The Public
Service Association (PSA) is New Zealand’s largest state sector union, and
has a growing membership at the Department of Corrections. The contract
between the Department and Australasian Correctional Management Limited to
run the remand prison expired overnight. It will now be run by the
Department of Corrections. PSA National Secretary Brenda Pilott said
workers employed by the private prison operator had, in effect, made the
operation profitable since they were employed on poorer terms and
conditions than the rest of the nation’s prison staff. “Imprisoning people
for the crimes they have committed is a core role of the state and it
should never be hived off to a private operator for profit. “The ACRP
experiment proved that the exercise was a simple cost-cutting exercise of
the type imposed across the public sector during the 1990s. “It employed
fewer officers per inmate and paid them less than staff employed by
Corrections at all the other prisons across the country. “At a time when
Corrections is finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain
quality staff it beggars belief that National would advocate greater use of
private prison contracts. More private prisons would inevitably drag down
pay and conditions for all prison staff and make recruitment even harder. “National’s
advocacy of tougher, longer sentences for a wider range of offences means
it must be planning to employ many more prison staff. We have to ask who
they think is going to staff them?,” Brenda Pilott said.

July
13, 2005 New Zealand Herald
Prisons run by private companies are not an option, Corrections Minister
Paul Swain says.Opposition parties
have said that ending private participation in the prison system is a
triumph of ideology over commonsense, but Mr Swain said the simple issue
was that private companies should not make profits out of prisoners.
However, Auckland Central Remand Prison (ACRP) was well managed before it
was handed back to the state today. "In the end, we have a public
prison service, a public police force, a public courts system," he
said on National Radio. "This is a role the Government or the public
should be involved in, not the private sector."

July 12, 2005 ScoopThe GEO Group, holders of
the private management contract for the Auckland Central Remand Prison,
said today that although they were extremely disappointed that the contract
had come to a close they would like to thank all of those people who have
supported them during their time in New Zealand. The contract ends at
midnight on July 12.

Ault Correctional Facility, Ault, Colorado
May 9, 2007 Greeley Tribune
Plans for a private prison in Ault came to a halt recently when Colorado
Department of Corrections rescinded its offer to GEO Group. Ault Mayor Brad
Bayne said board members haven't discussed the prison for months.
"Until there was some sort of guarantee, we'd just rather not talk
about it," he said. "There is probably some disappointment from
me and a few board members who believe we still could have made it work for
the town." Talk of the 1,500-bed medium-security prison proposed last
spring has bought some uproar in the town of fewer than 1,500 residents.
Some said a prison coming to town would boost the town's economy, but
others said it would be too dangerous because of its proximity to the town.
The plan was to build on 40 acres in the southeast part of town. Last
spring, the GEO Group entered into a tentative agreement with the town --
which approved the prison in concept only -- so it could secure state
approval to build there. Months later, the town board passed an ordinance
requiring resident approval before any prison could be built. Town
officials haven't heard from a GEO Group representative since September,
when GEO hosted a public forum answering questions from residents, he said.
But DOC Executive Director Ari Zavaras put a stop to all discussions with
the private prison contractor. He sent a letter April 24 to representatives
of GEO Group, stating they would no longer discuss the plans for the Ault
prison or GEO's request for a guaranteed bed count. "We had continued
to have a very open and productive conversations with GEO," said
Allison Morgan, spokesperson for the DOC. "But we did not agree with a
bed guarantee." GEO requested a guarantee on the number of beds that
would be filled by prisoners at any given time, since the state pays
private prison contractors a daily rate per inmate. Phillip Tidwell, a
member of the Citizens Against Ault Prison, said the decision to rescind
the DOC offer to GEO Group made him happy. "We're definitely feeling
this is a responsible act from both parties," Tidwell said. "The
contract should have never been fulfilled by the state because of GEO
making the specifications with the state for a guaranteed bed count."
In the letter to rescind, Zavaras stated that in June 2006, the DOC offered
a contract with GEO Group with the exception to GEO's request for a bed
guarantee. On July 7, the DOC asked for GEO group to sign and complete the
proposed implementation agreement. After a few meetings, GEO Group still requested
a bed guarantee, which the DOC could not grant. The two entities have gone
back and forth on the bed guarantee issue since August. According to the
letter, Zavaras gave GEO a new deadline of April 2 to sign the
Implementation Agreement or provide a reason for not signing in writing to
the DOC no later than that date. "It was apparent the Department and
GEO could not come to an agreement," Morgan said.

April 18, 2007 Colorado For Ethics
The Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) responded to a March 5, 2007,
open records request by Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government (CCEG)
that sought documents relating to a private prison contract awarded by CDOC
to The GEO Group, Inc. The documents obtained by CCEG confirm that former
Director of Prisons Nolin Renfrow began working for The GEO Group while
still on state payroll, a blatant conflict of interest. In an email to
Brian Burnett, the deputy executive director of CDOC, Dave Schouweiler, DOC
Manager of Purchasing, stated that Renfrow was on state payroll until
January 31, 2006 and acknowledged the “impropriety of Mr. Renfrow’s
involvement with the originating procurement.” The CORA request and
responsive documents are available on CCEG’s website at
www.coloradoforethics.org. CCEG is posting these records as part of its
commitment to holding the government responsible for its actions.

March 6, 2007 Greeley Tribune
Saying GEO Group Inc. can't be trusted, a Pueblo lawmaker asked state
officials Monday to rescind a contract with the company to build a private
prison in Ault. Plans for the prison, which would house 1,500 inmates and
would be built east of the railroad tracks along U.S. 85, has stalled on
two fronts. Ault leaders decided they would not approve the facility until
the public voted on it, and GEO wants to change its contract to ensure
payment for its beds. Rep. Liane "Buffie" McFadyen, D-Pueblo
West, a vocal critic of private prisons, said Monday that the proposed
change and other issues regarding GEO's integrity should negate the Ault
contract. “Anybody living in Ault should be concerned that a company that
would bid this way on a contract might have a business in their town,"
she said. Philip Tidwell, spokesman for the town group Coalition Against
Ault Prison, said residents hope no one else bids on the Ault prison if
GEO's contract is rescinded. "We just do not want any private prison,
whether it be GEO or Cornell or anyone else," he said. A spokesman for
GEO did not return calls seeking comment. McFadyen said the company is attempting
to do the same things in Ault that derailed plans for a GEO facility in
Pueblo. In 2003, GEO won a contract for a 1,100-bed, pre-parole and parole
revocation facility in Pueblo, and after almost four years of delays, the
state pulled the contract last fall. The company never broke ground on the
facility. "The state of Colorado was held hostage for four years
waiting for those beds," McFadyen said. The delays included zoning
issues in Pueblo and GEO's attempt to obtain guaranteed payments on 90
percent of its beds, regardless of whether the beds were occupied. That is
something state leaders have opposed and which may even be impossible
because of state laws, McFadyen said. Now, GEO is trying for guaranteed bed
payments in Ault, she said. "You have to question the integrity of the
2006 bid," she said. "If past performance is an indicator, I
suspect we will be in the same place we were in 2003 in Pueblo."
McFadyen said Ari Zavaras, the new director of the Department of
Corrections, told her he is opposed to bed guarantees. Corrections
spokeswoman Alison Morgan told the Associated Press that Zavaras will
review McFadyen's request and decide how to respond. The story of Ault's
possible prison goes back to late 2005, when Nolin Renfrow, former director
of prisons for the Department of Corrections, started working with GEO on a
bid for a private prison. Renfrow is under investigation for using state
sick leave to obtain the Ault contract on behalf of GEO. On Monday,
Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government, a watchdog group, filed an open
records request about the Ault bid. "We do not feel that the public's
interest was put forth in the procurement of this contract," said
Chantelle Taylor, spokeswoman for the watchdog group. A state audit found
Renfrow's business activities "arguably present a conflict of interest
and result in a breach of ... the public trust." That breach, coupled
with GEO's attempt to change its Pueblo contract by adding the bed-payment
guarantee, should have prevented the company from getting the Ault bid in
the first place, McFadyen said. Tidwell agreed. "One thing the state
should recognize is (GEO) did not operate fairly," he said. "They
hired an insider knowing he worked for the state. In my mind, GEO has shown
itself to be not a company that operates fairly in the state of Colorado.

March 5, 2007 Rocky Mountain NewsRep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, and two reform groups today
formally requested the director of the Department of Corrections and the
governor rescind Geo Group’s bid to build a private prison in Ault. The
reasons cited included the company’s performance on a 2003 bid to build a
private prison in Pueblo. McFadyen said GEO Group lost its contract to
build the Pueblo facility because it delayed the start of construction,
then tried to renegotiate its contract to get a guarantee that it would be
paid for 90 percent occupancy, even if beds were not filled.
"Basically, the state of Colorado was held hostage for four years.
They didn’t even break ground," McFadyen said. In her letter to Ari
Zavaras, executive director of DOC, she said, "It would appear that
the state’s best interests were not served by allowing GEO group to bid any
contract with the state because of its lack of performance on tis 2003
award." Officials with Geo Group could not be reached for comment
Monday afternoon. Alison Morgan, spokeswoman for the DOC, said Zavaras was
aware of the letter being sent by McFadyen, but had not seen it Monday.
"Since he was not with the department during the RFP (request for
proposals) process, it is an issue that he is still studying and is being
briefed on," said Morgan. "Once he has all the information,
including McFadyen’s letter, he would welcome an opportunity to sit down
and talk to her."

December 26, 2006 Greeley Tribune
After the state Department of Corrections pulled its contract with the GEO
Group to build a prison in Pueblo, Ault residents wonder about GEO's
proposed prison plans in their backyard. While some speculate that the
department's decision to pull the contract will halt the company's plans
for Ault, others say it has changed nothing. For Phillip Tidwell, a member
of the Citizens Against Ault Prison, the Department of Correction's
decision in Pueblo was good news for his own fight. "We are elated ...
finally someone will investigate them," he said. "The board is
not calling off anything, but to me, like the DOC, why hasn't Ault pulled
out on our contract with them? They're not truthful, not honest from the
beginning ... Now, we don't feel alone. We will continue our own fight, it
just feels like we're being assisted by the DOC." The contract was
canceled for the Pueblo prison after concern about Geo's lack of progress
on the project. The corrections department said that after four years, the
company failed to respond to inquiries from them and failed to break ground
on the Pueblo facility. In Ault, the state awarded the GEO Group the right
to build a 1,500-bed medium security men's prison on 40 acres in the
southeast part of town. Despite the initial discussions, there still are no
final decisions on the Ault proposal. Ault Mayor Brad Bayne said the
department's decision about the Pueblo facility won't change what's
happening in Ault. "The town hasn't changed its views on this,"
he said. He said for the prison to be built in the town, there has to be a
guarantee from the state, a negotiation between the town and the GEO Group
that makes sense and a vote of residents to approve the plans. Town
officials haven't heard from a GEO Group representative since September when
GEO hosted a public forum answering questions from residents, he said.
"... We're in a holding pattern until the state guarantees the
matter," he added. The plan first came to light at the end of May when
the GEO Group gave a proposal to the Ault Town Board. According to meeting
minutes, representatives from GEO said the project would be funded through
a local government bond, where the state pays the local government, which
then pays GEO. They said the facility would house 1,500 beds, but the
request for proposal on the project would allow up to 2,250 beds. To fight
the project, Citizens Against Ault Prison demanded an injunction on the
town's code which will require a vote of residents to decide the fate of
the prison. The injunction, which was signed by 297 voters, was approved by
board members in November.

December 16, 2006 The GazetteState prison officials have canceled a contract for a new private
prison in Pueblo, a move that casts doubt on how much Colorado will be able
to rely on private prisons while it copes with a crowding crisis. The GEO
Group, which was awarded a contract in 2003 to build the Pueblo pre-release
prison, has also been contracted to build and operate a prison in Ault, in
northeastern Colorado. But the same issue that doomed the Pueblo project —
the company’s insistence it be guaranteed nearly full occupancy — could
derail the latter prison, because GEO is making a similar demand. “If GEO’s
going to demand a bed guarantee, they need to leave the state,” said state
Rep. Buffie McFadyen, a Pueblo Democrat and leading critic of private
prisons. “It is not the job of the Colorado taxpayers to ensure profits for
this corporation.” The Pueblo prison was delayed repeatedly: by zoning
issues, by a legal challenge from a prison-reform group and by several
revisions to the plan by GEO. But the final impasse began this summer, when
the company asked for a 90 percent minimum occupancy guarantee for the
prison, which wasn’t a condition of the original proposal and was opposed
by Department of Corrections officials. Private prisons are paid a daily
rate per inmate by the state, currently $52. Last month, the DOC denied a
contract-extension request, and on Thursday informed the company that it
was canceling the contract. “Ground has not broken, and GEO has given no
indication when, or even if, it plans to commence construction,” DOC
executive director Joe Ortiz wrote. “Our patience cannot be infinite.” The
department is facing an acute crowding problem. Years of canceled prison-construction
projects and steady growth in court caseloads have created a shortage of
prison beds. The DOC this week began shipping 720 inmates out of state, a
temporary solution until new beds become available. With only one state
prison under construction, Colorado State Penitentiary II in Cañon City,
the DOC this year awarded contracts to three companies to build prisons for
3,776 inmates. The GEO Group’s proposed 1,500-bed prison in Ault is a major
part of the plan. Alison Morgan, head of private-prison monitoring for the
DOC, said the department still expects GEO to follow through on its
proposal in Ault. “We are treating the Pueblo facility and the Ault
facility separately. We have from Day 1, and we will continue to do so,”
Morgan said Friday. However, GEO is making the same demand for guaranteed
occupancy for the Ault prison. Asked whether the DOC is still opposed to a
guarantee, she said, “It is a policy decision to be addressed by the new
administration (of Gov.-elect Bill Ritter) and the General Assembly.” The
local community isn’t even sure it wants a prison. Ault’s town board last
month passed an ordinance requiring voter approval for the prison. No
election date has been set. McFadyen said she doesn’t believe GEO ever
intended to complete the Pueblo prison, and she doubts the company’s
ability and will to follow through in Ault. “We’ve been set back three
years in our planning,” McFadyen said. “I think that kind of delay is
unacceptable, and we’ll learn from this experience and not allow another
contract to drag on for three years.” A call to a spokesman in the
company’s Boca Raton, Fla., headquarters was not returned Friday afternoon.
An audit requested by Mc-Fadyen regarding the bidding process for the Ault
prison was released this week. It showed that a top DOC official set up a
consulting business to help GEO win the bid while he was employed by the
state. Because the DOC is based in Colorado Springs, the office of 4th
Judicial District Attorney John Newsome will receive the results of the
investigation and determine whether any law was broken. Morgan said the DOC
will issue a new request for proposals for a pre-release prison.

December 14, 2006 Pueblo ChieftainA three-year effort to build a private prison facility at the Pueblo
Memorial Airport Industrial Park appears to be dead after the Colorado
Department of Corrections and the prison company reached an impasse over
guaranteed occupancies. On Tuesday, reports said that the DOC was working
with the attorney general's office to draft a letter to the GEO Group that
essentially kills the company's plans to build a 1,000-bed pre-parole and
parole revocation facility on 36 acres east of the city. GEO officials said
Wednesday they had not received any letter from the DOC, but also didn't
express much confidence a deal could be struck for the facility. "We
have been in negotiations with the Department of Corrections, but we don't
have any contract signed and at this time it does not appear there will be
one," said Pablo Paez, director of communications for the
Florida-based company. Paez confirmed reports from November that the
company was asking for a minimum occupancy guarantee for the facility and
also confirmed that the company was planning to go to the city of Pueblo
for help to build the prison. ± PLEASE SEE PRISON, 2APRISON / continued
from page 1A ± "We needed the guarantee to secure the lowest capital
cost through tax-exempt bonds," Paez said Thursday. "We would get
those through the local municipality." State Rep. Liane
"Buffie" McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, who has been a vocal critic of
the private prison industry, and state Rep. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, wrote a
letter to the city in May warning against using public funds to build the
facility. "I think it's very positive that the city of Pueblo is not
going to risk its credit rating on this project," McFadyen said
Wednesday. Officials from the DOC were not available Wednesday to comment
on whether the letter had to do with the occupancy guarantees, or the
result of an audit suggesting former Director of Prisons Nolin Renfrow may
have broken the law by helping GEO secure DOC approval to build a 1,500-bed
facility in Weld County, prior to his retirement in January. Paez said GEO
had no contact with Renfrow before March. Last month, DOC spokeswoman Kathy
Church told The Pueblo Chieftain that talks between the company and the DOC
over Pueblo's facility had stalled over the minimum occupancy guarantees
and had reached a critical point. "They need to either understand our
position and accept it or back out completely," Church said last
month. Church told The Chieftain that the DOC couldn't make any guarantees
without knowing how much money it had to spend. That money depends on what
the joint budget committee decides. McFadyen wondered Wednesday why those
guarantees weren't part of the original agreement when DOC solicited bids
for the Pueblo project. "If the DOC negotiated additional terms with
GEO, they would be the only private prison company to receive such
treatment and that's wrong," McFadyen said Wednesday. "I think
this goes to the point of how committed they were to coming to Pueblo in
the first place." The plans to build the facility started in 2003 when
GEO, then Wakenhut Corrections Company, proposed building the prison on the
West Side. Those plans eventually shifted to the airport and the city
approved a controversial agreement with GEO to build a 500- to 1,000-bed
facility. A year ago, GEO bought the property at the airport from the city
for $296,800. GEO's original plan was to build a 750-bed facility at the
airport, but got Planning and Zoning Approval in May to expand the facility
to 1,000 beds.

December 14, 2006 Denver PostResults of an investigation into former Colorado prisons director Nolin
Renfrow's conduct in office will be turned over to a district attorney
early next year, the Department of Corrections' inspector general said
Wednesday. Michael Rulo, who has been the agency's inspector general for
seven years, said his office has been cooperating with state auditors on
the probe. On Tuesday, the auditors announced that a "former senior-
level official" of the Department of Corrections launched a
prison-consulting business in August 2005, five months before he retired
from the department Jan. 31, and helped a private company land a state
prison contract. State Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, who requested
the audit, identified the official as Renfrow. The auditors found that
while still employed by DOC, Renfrow began working to assist prospective
bidders in developing proposals to his department for a private prison.
With his assistance, a company identified as the GEO Group was awarded the
contract for a 1,500-bed private prison at Ault. Auditors noted that state
employees are barred by law from outside employment that creates a conflict
of interest, and from helping people to win a contract with their agency
for a fee. Renfrow couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday. Rulo said the
results of his office's investigation will be turned over to El Paso County
District Attorney John Newsome, probably in January. The Department of
Corrections is based in that county. Rulo said a decision on whether to
file charges will be a "collaborative process" with prosecutors.
Kristen Holtzman, spokeswoman for Colorado Attorney General John Suthers,
said that Renfrow never contacted the attorney general's office to ask
whether his consulting business while still a DOC employee constituted a
conflict of interest.

November 15, 2006 Greeley TribuneThe Ault Town Board eased many residents' minds Tuesday night and gave
them a stronger voice in the prison debate. Town residents have voiced
strong opinions against the proposed GEO correctional facility in Ault
after initial discussions last spring. Tuesday night, the town board voted
5-1 to accept an ordinance that requires a town election about the location
of any prison or similar incarceration facility. An election date has not
been set, but one will be necessary when the GEO Group Inc. returns to the
town to begin negotiating a contract. GEO has proposed building a 1,500-bed
medium security prison on about 40 acres in southeast Ault. The prison
population would double the town's population. Most recently, the GEO group
sought assurances from the state Department of Corrections for a guaranteed
number of prisoners to house at the prison, but DOC representatives said
the state typically didn't provide such guarantees. Residents recently
signed a petition requesting an election about a site before the town
approved permits for such a building. Petitioners needed a minimum of 40
valid signatures to take the request to the board. They submitted 297. Mary
Schlack, 37, of Ault said she was part of the petition effort after she
went door-to-door and learned more people were opposed to the prison. She
said she expected more than 40 signatures because of her previous questions
to residents.

September 29, 2006 Greeley TribuneAl Nickel was one of a few passionate people who attended a
question-and-answer session Thursday about a proposed private prison in his
town. He was more concerned about the possible safety risks of having a
prison nearby than the potential for increased revenue. "What are they
going to do for the town?" asked Nickel, a 21-year resident of the
town 11 miles north of Greeley on U.S. 85. "It's not like they can go
downtown and buy 100 gallons of milk or toilet paper. Their business has to
go elsewhere." Representatives from The GEO Group, Place Properties
and Patriot Business Solutions met with about 20 residents Thursday
afternoon at the Ault VFW post to discuss the plans of bringing a prison to
town. The group held a separate meeting Thursday night, drawing about 40
people. Many people were curious about what the prison would look like and
had concerns about Ault being considered a prison town. Ken Fortier, a
spokesman for GEO Group, said he hoped to ease some concerns at the
sessions. "There's a lot of emotions when it comes to a project like
this and the perception of a correctional facility," he said.
"We're not here to debate, but to answer questions."

September 10, 2006 Greeley TribuneTwo months ago, the state awarded the Geo Group the right to build a
1,500-bed medium security men's prison in Ault, but so far, progress has
been slight. A town meeting in July lured about 300 in protest. Opponents
worry about prison breaks, the caliber of employees and the potential for a
prison to attract criminals. Proponents of the prison say their dying town
needs development, and a prison is a clean industry that would bring
commerce and jobs. The prison would be located on roughly 40 acres in the
southeast part of town, east of the railroad tracks parallel to U.S. 85.
Since the initial discussions, however, there are still no decisions. The
Geo Group has not presented the town with a potential contract, and the
town board has yet to decide if a contract with the private prison would
have to be approved by the board or the residents. Those involved, however,
insist there is progress but won't elaborate.

July 22, 2006 Greeley TribuneIt may be a month or more before residents know if the town of Ault
will be home to a 1,500-bed private prison. Ault Mayor James Fladung said
the town board has not decided if it will sign a binding contract with Geo
Group Inc. or if it will allow Ault residents to vote on the proposed
medium-security prison for men. Colorado's Department of Corrections
recently granted Geo the rights to build a prison in Ault in the next two
years. But Geo cannot actually build the facility until it gets approval
from the town. The board is negotiating with Geo over prices and fees on
issues such as water and sewer. A final contract for the prison still needs
to be written. "There is quite a bit of distance to cover yet,"
said Sharon Sullivan, Ault town clerk and treasurer. "It will continue
to be ongoing, but there is a long way to go." Fladung said it could
possibly be a month before any decision is made. The town board has the
authority to approve a contract without a vote from Ault residents because
the land where the prison would be located is zoned industrial, Fladung
said. But the mayor said that because of public sentiment the board will
consider conducting a poll or even allow a public vote on the issue. Nearly
300 people attended a public hearing last Tuesday. The majority of those
people opposed the prison. Fladung said he thought it would be good to hold
more public hearings before any contract is signed. "We must listen to
the people. They were the ones who elected us," Fladung said. In late
June the town board unanimously passed a resolution approving the concept
of a private prison in Ault. Sullivan said that resolution confused many
people and led them to believe that the town board already signed a
contract with Geo. The logistics and time frame of a contract still aren't
clear, but Fladung said he can guarantee that the contract will not raise
any taxes or utility fees for Ault residents. "I'm standing pretty
solid about the people in Ault not paying them a penny more for them to
come in," Fladung said.

July 19, 2006 Greeley Tribune
Debate over whether to allow a men's medium security prison to be built in
Ault has divided the normally quiet community. Almost 300 Ault residents
overwhelmed Tuesday night's town board meeting to discuss the pros and cons
of allowing the Florida-based company Geo Group Inc. to build a 1,500 bed
private prison in Ault. So many people showed up that the meeting had to be
delayed half an hour to move the meeting to the larger VFW building. The
issue pitted neighbor against neighbor with strong opinions and statements
made by nearly 50 people on both sides of the issue. "Geo is like
Wal-Mart. They could care less about this town," said John Jablonski
of Ault. "They want to use us to make money." The majority of the
crowd was strongly against the prison but faced opposition from a vocal
minority of Ault's business owners. They believe the prison will be the
economic boost Ault's dwindling economy needs to survive. Sheila Kelsey,
owner of the House of Bargains, has lived in Ault for 34 years and said
that during all that time little economic growth has occurred. "The
prison would be in my front yard, but we desperately need the
business," Kelsey said. "If we do not get this business, this
town will die. It will be a ghost town." Many of those against the
prison did not like its close proximity to town and called it a safety
hazard, a drain on resources such as water and an overall detriment to the
well-being of Ault. Amber Kauffman, who has lived in the town for five
years, said she is all for growth but not at the expense of having to live
near a prison. "We came here to live in a small town and a small
community," Kauffman said. "A prison would change the dynamics of
this town." Her husband, Ty Kauffman, said that if the prison does go
in, the company wants to run water and sewer lines across his fields which
would hurt his annual hay crop. Ty Kauffman said that if the prison does
come to Ault, he will be out of town in two weeks. "You do so much to
your home to loose it all," he said. "It's a nightmare." Ken
Fortier, a representative from Geo, said the prison would bring jobs and
purchasing power to Ault. He said that Geo is the largest private
corrections facility company in the world and operates high and medium
security prisons on many continents including the world's largest private
prison in South Africa and a facility that is part of the Guantanamo Bay
complex in Cuba. "Step away from the emotions to the notion of what
economically 300 jobs mean to the town of Ault," Fortier said. There
was still a lot of questions left in the air on Tuesday. Board members did
not tell the crowd when, or if, they would sign a contract with the
company.

July 18, 2006 Greeley TribuneControversy is brewing in Ault about the proposed men's prison expected
to be built southeast of town by the Florida-based Geo Group Inc. The
Coalition Against the Ault Prison, comprised of 10 residents, will attend
tonight's Ault town board meeting to oppose the 1,500-bed prison. The
residents have passed out fliers and petitions against Colorado's Department
of Corrections late June decision to grant Geo the rights to construct the
prison there in the next two years. If the town board signs a contract with
the Geo Group, the number of prisoners would more than double this town of
roughly 1,400 people. Tasha Greene, 35, an environmental health and safety
officer in Ault began the opposition group about a week ago and said the
members extensively researched the economic and social impacts a prison
might have on a small town. Greene said she collected 117 signatures of
registered Ault voters who are opposed to the prison. "There are a few
people we talked to that want this prison 100 percent, but the fast
majority are dead set against it," Greene said. Though Ault residents
have an hour to present comments at tonight's meeting, Greene said she is
unsure if the board will take her group's concerns to heart. "We get a
sense that they will do what they want to do," Greene said. "Who
cares about public opinion?" The board in May passed a resolution
agreeing with the prison in concept. The resolution states that prior to
the board executing a contract or any financing agreements with the Geo
Group, "the final forms of such documents and/or agreement shall be
submitted for approval to the town, and if satisfactory to the town, their
execution shall be authorized by resolution or ordinance ..." If the
board ignores their concerns, Greene said she plans to pursue formal legal
action against the prison's construction. Larry Hosier, another member of
the coalition, said he thinks the town board is completely out of touch
with the people of Ault and not smart enough to properly negotiate with
Geo's high-powered executives. "They don't even know the right
questions to ask," Hosier said. The group is concerned the prison will
make the town unsafe, overtax the already low water supply in the area,
create light and air pollution, lower property values, create a higher
unemployment rate, bankrupt small businesses and ruin the character and
aesthetics of Ault. "Ault will no longer be 'A Unique Little
Town," one of the coalition's flyer's proclaims. "Once a prison
town always a prison town." Some residents are so concerned about the
negative effects they claim they will actually move out of Ault. "I
had one guy sign the petition. The next day his home went up for
sale," Hosier said, adding that and his wife may consider doing the
same after living in town for more than 30 years. Greene is equally
convinced that Ault isn't big enough for both her and the prison, and said
she would find a new home for her nine horses. She said she is most
concerned about safety and the possibility that escaped convicts could put
the community in danger. "I'd feel I'll need to put up really tall
fences and buy really big dogs and make myself a private arsenal,"
Greene said.

Australian
Federal GovernmentOctober
11, 2011 Canberra Times
The Commonwealth Government is suing its former immigration detention
operators for failing to protect it against lawsuits lodged by people kept
in detention facilities. The case will be heard in the South Australian
Supreme Court on November 21. It is part of a long-running case launched by
former asylum-seeker Abdul Amir Hamidi, who won a confidential settlement
against the Federal Government after almost five years in detention. As The
Canberra Times revealed on Saturday, Mr Hamidi's lawyers predict that the
confidential settlement will spark dozens more claims for damages. In a
case to be heard on November 21, the Commonwealth will claim its former
detention centre operators - GSL and Australasian Correctional Services -
breached their contracts by exposing the Government to the legal action.
The Commonwealth will argue both companies agreed to indemnify it against
damages based on their running of Australian detention centres.
Australasian Correctional Services operated Australia's mainland
immigration detention facilities until early 2004. Group 4 Falck Global
Solutions Pty Ltd (which later changed its name to Global Solutions
Limited, or GSL) commenced management of the centres in late 2003. Both
companies will fight the claim, with ACS arguing it had insufficient time
to respond to the allegations and the terms of its agreement included
dispute resolution measures. GSL says it is not responsible for
indemnifying the Commonwealth for any ''negligent, wilful, reckless or
unlawful acts or omissions of the Commonwealth, its employees, officers or
agents''. Between 2000 and March 2010, detainees in Australian immigration
detention centres were paid more than $12.3million in compensation for
personal injury or unlawful detention.

July 9, 2004 AustralianA damning report by the Auditor-General, released
two weeks ago, showed initial detention arrangements with private prison
operators Australian Centre Management to be a farce. Appalling hygiene and
frequent escapes perpetuated by ACM's lackadaisical attitude to detainees
was highlighted as a failure of the immigration department. With a
second report by the Auditor-General expected to detail arrangements with
ACM's replacement Global Systems Management later this year, the department
maintains it.

June 19, 2004 Courier Mail
Australasian Correctional Management ran 12 immigration detention centres
on behalf of the Howard Government from early 1998 until early this
year. According to the Australian National Audit Office report, the
Department of Immigration, Indigenous and Multicultural Affairs had no
strategy for detaining asylum seekers, let alone a contract management plan
with ACM. The damning report found: No risk management strategy in
the contract. No contract management training or guidance. No
performance targets and an ad hoc approach to changing numbers. No
contract monitoring or assessment. No financial risk strategy or
asset management plan. "This meant that DIMIA was not able to
assess whether its strategies were actually working in practice," the
report said. During the contract the number of detainees varied from
just a handful in 1998 to 3000 in the year 2000. And the auditors
could find no assurance that the financial aspects of the $500 million
contract "operated as intended". The report also found a
gap in the audit trail. "Invoicing procedures where the audit trail
between the services provided and payments made did not provide senior
managers with assurance that full value for money was being achieved,"
it said. "A systematic approach to risk management, including
the establishment of an appropriate and documented risk management
strategy, should have been an integral part of contract management,"
the auditors said. According to the report a manual for departmental
centre managers was not issued until four years after the contract began
and had not been kept up to date. In its response to the report the
department agreed with the six recommendations made by the auditors.
It defended itself by saying the audit did not "fully reflect and take
account of the complexity of the environment and the nature of the previous
detention contract". "Many aspects of the contract were
intended to be flexibly addressed through negotiation and discussion,"
it said. Opposition immigration spokesman Stephen Smith demanded the
return of immigration detention centres to government management.
"The report is a comprehensive condemnation of the Government's policy
of the privatisation of the management of immigration detention centres and
a comprehensive indictment of DIMIA's administration of it," Mr Smith
said. The auditors found that 38 of the 100 immigration detention
standards issued by the department had no performance measures and another
37 were only partially covered. Immigration Minister Amanda
Vanstone's spokesman did not respond to the report.

, Aurora,
ColoradoJul 10, 2015 abcnews.go.comLawsuit: Immigrants Got $1 a Day
for Work at Private Prison

Immigrants who were detained at
a suburban Denver facility while they awaited deportation proceedings are
suing the private company that held them, alleging they were paid $1 a day
to do janitorial work, sometimes under threat of solitary confinement. They
scrubbed toilets, mopped and swept floors, did laundry, and prepared and
served meals, among other duties, according to attorneys who filed the
lawsuit in October on behalf of nine current and former detainees. On
Monday, U.S. District Court Judge John L. Kane declined a request from the
Florida-based GEO Group Inc. to dismiss the claims against it, allowing the
federal lawsuit to proceed. GEO is one of the largest contractors with the
federal government for the detention of immigrants suspected of being in
the country illegally or legal permanent residents with criminal records
who face deportation. The company has denied wrongdoing and said in court
documents the work is voluntary and it is abiding by federal guidelines in
paying $1 a day. Attorneys for the immigrants say they'll move to expand
the case by seeking class-action status. They say the judge's ruling clears
the way to gather more information from GEO through discovery proceedings
about how many detainees were put to work. The attorneys said they've heard
from clients for years that immigrants labor for almost nothing at private
detention facilities around the country, but they called the lawsuit filed
in Colorado the first of its kind. "It's their job to run the
facility, and instead they used and abused us to run the facility, and
that's why we're suing," said plaintiff Alejandro Menocal, 53. Menocal
is a legal permanent resident who was detained for three months at GEO's
Aurora facility while facing deportation last fall. GEO responded in a
statement that its facilities "provide high-quality services in safe,
secure and humane residential environments, and our company strongly
refutes allegations to the contrary." The company added attorneys and
immigrant advocates have full access to its facilities that U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts with, and they're routinely
audited and inspected by the government. Anita Sinha, a faculty member at
Washington College of Law, American University who has researched immigrant
labor at private detention centers, said the daily wage was set by Congress
in 1950 and hasn't been adjusted for inflation. She said on a daily basis,
immigrants facing deportation occupy about 34,000 beds nationally in
private and government-run facilities. More than 60 percent of the beds are
in privately held facilities, she said. The company succeeded in getting
the judge to dismiss a claim that it violated Colorado's minimum wage law
because detainees were paid $1 a day instead of $8.23 an hour. In tossing
that claim, Kane said the detainees do not qualify as employees under state
law. But he said the lawsuit could proceed on the allegations that GEO
unjustly profited from the detainees and violated the federal Trafficking
Victims Protection Act, which prohibits forced labor. "Legally, this
is a big step forward," said Hans Meyer, Menocal's attorney. It's
common for inmates at state or privately run prisons to work below minimum
wage, in some cases for the purpose of gaining job training. "The
difference here is that these are civil immigration detainees who are not
being held for any criminal violation," said Brandt Milstein, another
attorney in the lawsuit. Menocal, a Mexican immigrant from Baja California,
was released in September and kept his legal resident status after his
attorney won his case. He said he faced deportation proceedings last year
when authorities learned after a traffic stop that he had a criminal record
from 2010 for driving with a suspended license and having his wife's
prescription painkillers in his car. He pleaded guilty and served a year of
probation soon after, but he didn't come to the attention of immigration
authorities at the time. The lawsuit focuses only on the GEO's suburban
Denver facilities, but the American Civil Liberties Union said the claims
are similar to allegations they've heard around the country. "There is
a name for locking people up and forcing them to do work without paying
real wages. It's called slavery," said Carl Takei, staff attorney at
the national prison project of the ACLU. The monetary amount the lawsuit
seeks hasn't been determined.Jul 9, 2015 westword.comGEO LAWSUIT ALLEGING FORCED LABOR OF IMMIGRANT DETAINEES MOVES FORWARD

Update below: In a move that
could have resounding consequences for corrections practices and the
for-profit prison industry in particular, a Denver federal judge has
refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by nine federal immigrant detainees, who
allege that a private prison contractor forced them to perform maintenance
and cleaning jobs for little or no pay. The suit, which is seeking
class-action status, accuses the company of violating federal laws
prohibiting human trafficking and forced labor and seeks millions of
dollars in damages. Senior U.S. District Judge John L. Kane threw out some
of the plaintiffs' claims but allowed the case against The GEO Group, which
operates a detention facility in Aurora under contract with U.S. Immigrant
and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to move forward. The decision was hailed as
"a tremendous victory for civil immigrant detainees nationwide"
by Nina DiSalvo, the executive director of Towards Justice, a Denver-based
nonprofit that partnered with several law firms to bring the action.
"The judge's decision allows us to address the systemic problems with
GEO's treatment of immigrant workers throughout the legal system." One
of the largest private prison companies in the world, GEO operates 66
correctional facilities in the United States, including ICE detention
centers in Washington, Florida, and Colorado. The complaint alleges that
Aurora detainees participate in a "voluntary work program" that
includes laundry, kitchen and cleaning jobs, for which they are paid a
dollar a day. Six detainees are also selected at random each day to clean
the living pods without pay; refusal can result in being placed in solitary
confinement. The lawsuit argued that the arrangement violates Colorado's
minimum wage law. Judge Kane disagreed, since the state's labor laws
specifically carve out an exception for prisoners, who are not considered
employees. But Kane found merit in the claim that GEO's approach to the
pod-cleaning assignments — do it or get thrown in the hole — may be a
violation of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which
prohibits involuntary servitude and coercive methods to demand work
"by means of force, threats of force, physical restraint, or threats
of physical restraint." The judge also allowed a claim involving
unjust enrichment to proceed. Most correctional systems depend on cheap
inmate labor to keep costs down. Kane's denial of GEO's motion to dismiss
doesn't signal an end to that practice. It does, however, raise questions
about the ability of a private contractor to demand that inmates perform
basic maintenance or cleaning tasks under threat of further punishment.
"Using forced detainee labor is an integral tool in maintaining GEO's
profitability under its contracts with ICE," Nashville attorney Andrew
Free, a co-counsel in the case, noted in prepared statement. "The court's
decision today represents an important step forward in ending that morally
bankrupt business model." GEO has not responded to a request for
comment on the ruling. We'll update this post if a response is
forthcoming.Update, 1:00 p.m.: The
GEO Group corporate headquarters has provided a statement in response to
our request for comment that reads, in part: "GEO’s facilities,
including the Aurora, Colo., facility, provide high quality services in
safe, secure, and humane residential environments, and our company strongly
refutes allegations to the contrary. The volunteer work program at
immigration facilities as well as the wage rates and standards associated
with the program are set by the federal government. Our facilities adhere
to these standards as well as strict contractual requirements and all
standards set by ICE, and the agency employs several full-time, on-site
contract monitors who have a physical presence at each of GEO’s
facilities."

February 16, 2009 The Aurora SentinelAbout 50 people from various advocacy groups gathered near an Aurora
detention facility Monday, Feb. 16, to rally for changes to the nation’s
immigration policies and an end to raids on suspected illegal immigrants.
The vigil, which was organized by local clergy, was one of more than 100
actions across the country aimed at “demonstrating the faith communities’
commitment to inject humanity and compassion into the public dialogue on
immigration,” organizers said in a statement. Jennifer Piper, of the Quaker
organization American Friends Service Committee, said ending raids was one
of the main goals of the vigil. “These raids really tear families and
workers out of our community,” Piper said. The vigil brought out a diverse
crowd with participants ranging from toddlers to senior citizens. The group
clutched candles, said prayers and spoke about their concerns. “All faith
traditions share a common mandate to welcome and care for all members of
our community and love our neighbors as ourselves,” Jeremy Shaver,
executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, said in a
statement. “As people of faith, we must keep that in the forefront of our
minds as we approach the complex issue of immigration.” Organizers said
recent immigration raids have been destructive for immigrants’ families and
they hope the vigils lead to change in Washington. “We call on President
Obama and members of Congress to demonstrate the courage to pass
immigration policies that uphold and protect the dignity and human rights
of all,” Shaver said. The vigil was held just a few blocks from a privately
owned and operated detention facility that houses suspected illegal
immigrants. Florida-based GEO Group, which owns the facility, has plans to
expand it — a proposal that has come under fire from immigrant groups.

January 8, 2008 Colorado Confidential
A former corrections employee is suing prison contractor The GEO Group,
operator of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention
facility in Aurora. In a suit filed in Denver District Court, former GEO
employee Celia Ramirez alleges the company failed to follow its own
anti-discrimination policies. According to the suit, filed in December,
Ramirez was employed by GEO as a detention officer at the Aurora ICE lockup
for just over two years before being fired for failing to return lockup
keys to their designated area. However, in the suit Ramirez contends that
another GEO worker, Jennifer Beauman, took the keys and placed them on the
facility's roof to retaliate against the plaintiff for reporting the
employee for inappropriate conduct. According to the suit, Beauman is
reported to have engaged in erratic behavior, such as angrily slamming
doors and flicking lights on and off in the presence of inmates. Attempts
to reach Beauman were unsuccessful. The suit alleges Beauman
"joked" about taking the keys to get back at Ramirez, before the
keys went missing. A maintenance worker is reported to have later found the
keys on the facility's rooftop. The crux of the lawsuit contends that
Ramirez was discriminated against for her gender and Latino ethnicity, and
that GEO failed to enforce written policies of barring gender or race
discrimination as stipulated in the company's employee handbook. Pablo
Paez, a spokesman for the GEO Group, said that it is the company's
corporate policy not to discuss pending litigation. Lisa Sahli, the
attorney who filed the suit, said that Ramirez had obtained another
attorney and that she could not speak further on the case because she is no
longer Ramirez's legal counsel. Attempts to contact Ramirez were also
unsuccessful. The suit comes as GEO is set to expand its Aurora ICE
facility by more than 1000 beds, tripling the current threshold of 400
beds. Ramirez is seeking to bring the case to a jury, according to court
documents.

December 19, 2007 Denver Post
A private company operating the Colorado immigration detention center in
Aurora plans to sink $72 million into an expansion that will more than
triple the size of the facility based on Senate proposals to expand border
enforcement and bed space for illegal-immigrant detainees. The expansion
would turn the 400-bed facility into a 1,500-bed center, making it second
in size only to the 2,000-bed Raymondville, Texas, site, according to U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Aurora site is in a warehouse area
near East 30th Avenue and Peoria Street. The plan by Florida-based GEO
Group, which owns and operates the facility, has raised concerns among
national and local immigrant- and civil-rights groups and the neighborhood
associations in the area. The expansion is expected to be complete in late
2009. A company spokesman did not return numerous calls, but GEO chairman
and chief executive George Zoley detailed the plan recently in a call with
analysts. GEO estimates the 1,100 new beds will raise an additional $30
million in annual revenue, Zoley said during the call. Opponents of the
plan say their concerns are based partly on the lack of access to internal
audits of the facility and recent government reviews showing inadequacies.
"One of the major issues is that GEO has a really spotty record in
running these sorts of facilities," said Chandra Russo, a community
organizer for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. "Our concern
with a private corporation running a prison is that its profits depend on
more prisoners. What is the benefit for the community?" Neighbors are
also worried about real estate values and environmental impact. ICE denies
any connection with the expansion the private company is planning with its
own money, said ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok. Currently, the ICE contract for
the Aurora facility is for 400 beds, but the deal is up for review each
year for the next four years. "If they expand the facility, unless
they modify the contract, there is nothing to say those additional beds would
be used or contracted by ICE," Rusnok said. Still, national and local
immigrant groups are concerned about the expansion at the facility, where
they say reports and audits have been slow or not publicly released.
Several years ago, the National Immigration Law Center asked the courts to
demand that ICE release internal reviews of contract facilities and won.
But ICE has been lax in providing the most recent two years' worth of
reviews, said Karen Tumlin, attorney with NILC. "Until ICE is willing to
release all of the reviews, we don't want to see these levels of
expansion," she said. In July, the Government Accountability Office
found problems at several of the detention centers from May 2006 to May
2007. The GAO did not find extreme cases but noted issues at 16 of 17 ICE
centers with phone calls to pro bono legal help. In Aurora, the report also
found that hold rooms exceeded capacity and log books were not maintained
to show how long people were in rooms or when they had their last meal. In
October 2006, reviews found the Aurora site in violation for lack of
cleanliness in food service. The report also said the center had portable
beds in aisles because of overcrowding. Rusnok said many of the problems
identified by the GAO have since been rectified and that ICE has no plans
based on the Senate proposal. Zoley, during the call, cited a proposed
bill, which provides for additional funding to increase border-patrol
agents and increase detention bed space by more than 5,000 beds. "We
believe that this increase in bed funding will result in additional
opportunities for the private sector," he said. The Department of
Homeland Security expects the undocumented population, estimated to be
around 12 million, to grow by 400,000 annually. The total number of illegal
immigrants in administrative proceedings who spend some time in detention
annually increased from 95,702 in 2001 to 283,115 in 2006. Detention bed
space increased from 19,702 in 2001 to 27,500 last year. After the first of
the year, NILC plans to ask for a moratorium on expansions of these types
of facilities until ICE can ensure minimum compliance with its standards,
Tumlin said.

July 11, 2007 Government Executive
Magazine
In a recent review of federal facilities used to detain suspected illegal
immigrants, the Government Accountability Office found a lack of telephone
access to be a pervasive problem, potentially preventing detainees from
contacting legal counsel, their countries' consulates or complaint
hotlines. The GAO review included visits to 23 detention centers housing
immigrants awaiting adjudication or deportation. The watchdog agency
observed the centers -- run by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement
agency within the Homeland Security Department -- for compliance with
nonbinding national detention standards. Of the 23 facilities GAO reviewed,
17 had telephone systems allowing detainees to make free phone calls
seeking assistance. In 16 of these 17 facilities, however, GAO found
systemic problems hindering phone access. Issues ranged from inaccurate or
outdated numbers posted by the phones to technical problems preventing
completion of calls, the report (GAO-07-875) stated. The review found
instances where the centers fell short of standards in other areas, such as
medical care, use of force and food services, but said these instances did
not necessarily indicate a larger pattern of noncompliance. "While it
is true that the only pervasive problem we identified related to the
telephone system -- a problem later confirmed by ICE's testing -- we cannot
state that the other deficiencies we identified in our visits were
isolated," said Richard Stana, director of homeland security and
justice issues at GAO, in the report. GAO recommended that ICE regularly
update the posted numbers for legal services, consulates and reporting
violations of detainee treatment standards and test phone systems to ensure
that they are in working order. In a response to a draft of the report,
Steven Pecinovsky, director of the Homeland Security Department's
GAO/Office of the Inspector General Liaison Office, said ICE concurred with
its recommendations and had taken immediate steps to implement them. In
particular, ICE has started random testing to ensure the phones can access
the necessary numbers. While GAO did not find evidence of widespread
disregard for national detention standards, there have been recent calls
for more oversight of immigrant detention facilities and codification of
standards. According to the American Bar Association's Commission on
Immigration, the fact that the standards are not codified means "their
violation does not confer a cause of action in court." On Monday, the
American Civil Liberties Union called on Congress to codify the standards,
expressing concern over the causes of death for the 62 immigrants who have
died in ICE custody since 2004. GAO's report cited several instances of
noncompliance in the standards for medical care, but almost all were a
failure to complete the routine physical exams required for all detainees.
The only other issue cited was the failure of one detention center to have
a first aid kit available. The ACLU argued there are far more serious
medical failures occurring in immigrant detention centers. "Inadequate
medical care has led to unnecessary suffering and death," the ACLU
said in a statement. "In addition, there is no mechanism in place for
reporting deaths in immigration detention to any oversight body, including
the [Office of the Inspector General] and, therefore, there are no routine
investigations into deaths in ICE custody."

September 27, 2002Security guards at the Wackenhut INS detention
facility in Aurora quelled a disturbance Thursday. The disruption was
caused by several detainees during the lunch hour, said Nina Pruneda-
Muniz, Denver District spokeswoman for the Immigration and Naturalization
Service. "It got handled in a very timely manner," Pruneda-Muniz
said. "We were able to defuse any situation from going any
further." Agents were determining how many prisoners were involved and
why the confrontation erupted, she said. (Rocky Mountain News)

July 19, 2005 The Age
The Immigration Department is under fire again for failing to protect a
woman who was sexually abused in front of her daughter in a detention
centre. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has found
that the department failed in its duty of care and breached her human
rights. The woman, an Iranian refugee from a minority religious
group, complained of two violent attacks by other detainees at the Curtin
detention centre in Western Australia. In one incident a man had tried to rape
her, and in another a man punched her in the chest and face, tore her
clothes off and broke her finger. Her young daughter, who came to her aid,
was also punched. In preliminary findings seen by The Age, Human
Rights Commission president John von Doussa slammed the department and the
manager of the Curtin centre, Australasian Correctional Management.
News of his finding follows the damning indictment of the department over
the illegal detention of Cornelia Rau and the mistaken deportation of Vivian
Alvarez Solon. In his report last week, former Federal Police
commissioner Mick Palmer identified "a serious cultural problem"
and called for urgent reform.

Baker
Community Correctional Facility, San Bernardino,
CaliforniaNovember
26, 2011 The Daily PressThe state has canceled its contract with the privately operated Desert
View Modified Community Correctional Facility, putting about 150 workers
out of a job. Desert View's contract termination officially takes effect
Wednesday, though prison employees told the Daily Press that The Geo Group
Inc. has been preparing to deactivate the prison at Rancho and Aster roads
since May. The 643-bed medium-security prison is shuttering its doors as
part of California’s realignment plan, which responds to federal orders to
reduce state prison overcrowding by shifting responsibility for tens of
thousands of low-level offenders to county governments. To help deal with
the new influx of inmates under local supervision, the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is encouraging counties to
enter into their own contracts with more than a dozen former CCFs. The CCFs
had generally housed inmates with sentences shorter than 18 months, parole
violators and offenders with scheduled release dates — the same types of nonviolent,
non-sexual or non-serious offenders now serving out sentences in county
jails instead of state prisons. “We hope that counties contract with these
facilities to save jobs and ease inmate housing concerns that many counties
may have,” CDCR spokeswoman Dana Toyama said. But San Bernardino County
Sheriff’s Department officials say they’re not planning to privatize jail
beds. The math just doesn’t pencil out, according to Sheriff’s Department
spokeswoman Cindy Bachman. “The issue with taking advantage of private
prisons or private jail facilities has come up over and over again
throughout the years; however, it’s not something that the county is
considering,” Bachman said. “It’s too costly and there’s just not the
funding really even to consider something like that.” The California State
Association of Counties has created a document outlining potential beds at
the former CCFs, but counties statewide have been hesitant to exercise that
option. The Geo Group had operated six of the nine privately run CCFs that
lost their state contracts, according to CSAC. Five other CCFs were run by
local governments. The facilities ranged from around 100 employees to more
than 600, according to Toyama.

Baxter
Immigration Detention Centre, Australia
September 13, 2008 Sidney Morning Herald
About 10 o'clock one evening in January 2003, Mary Rohde got out of her
four-wheel-drive to lock the gate to the visitor carpark at the Baxter
immigration detention facility near Port Augusta, where she was a detention
officer. She felt a presence but saw no one, and returned to the car to
radio the control room. Suddenly an arm was round her neck, a blade at her
throat. Terror and incomprehension overwhelmed her. Eventually the arm
loosened and she looked round; in the back seat was her boss. It had been a
security drill. "That'll teach her to lock the car door," a
supervisor later remarked. Rhode was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress
disorder and, five years later, has not recovered, despite psychiatric
treatment. Her symptoms are typical. She suffers from nightmares and
insomnia. She cannot manage social situations, cannot sit in a doctor's
waiting room; even visits from her adult children are too much to cope
with. Half an hour after they arrive she finds herself weeping in her bedroom.
"I'm now the shell of the person I was. I drink and take drugs; for me
to cope, that's what I have to do," she says. Rohde is one of many
former officers who developed post-traumatic stress disorder and other
stress-related disorders while working in detention centres around
Australia. Statistics from WorkCover South Australia record 62 claims for
post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental disorders made by guards at
Woomera and Baxter. Many are unlikely to work again. We have been told a
lot about the impact of detention on asylum seekers, but not about the
impact on those who worked there. By 1999 leaky vessels were making their
way to Australia carrying mostly asylum seekers from Iraq, Iran and
Afghanistan. Arrival numbers overwhelmed detention centres at Curtin and
Port Hedland, both in northern Western Australia. The overflow shifted to a
makeshift camp near Woomera, South Australia, where they languished in
desert heat until given visas or sent home. Five hundred kilometres from
Adelaide, with access to the detention centre barred to almost all, it was
impossible for outsiders to know what happened within. Woomera's carrying
capacity was 400. By April 2000 it held more than 1400 detainees, and
officers were needed to keep order. Detention services were privatised by
the Howard government in 1997. The successful tenderer was Australasian
Correctional Management, or ACM, a subsidiary of the US giant Wackenhut
corporation, which ran private jails in Australia and overseas. Many ACM
detention centre officers had been jail staff but the company also
advertised for them. With free accommodation and the minimum requirement of
five 12-hour shifts a week, the conditions seemed excellent - about $1200 a
week. For Rohde, recently separated from her husband and experiencing
financial difficulties, the job seemed a godsend. Many officers believed
they were on important duty. In 2000 Australians got the message they were
under siege; that the boatloads surely included terrorists. Still others
thought this was a chance to show kindness. Within weeks, the new recruits
would find themselves kitted up in riot gear and wielding batons,
extinguishing fires, or cutting down would-be suicides. Trevor Robertson
signed up to Woomera in June 2000. He had recently completed training as a
prison officer in Brisbane. His partner, Kendall Jones, expecting their
first child, urged him to apply. As with Rohde, the move would be the
mistake of their lives. An imposing figure, Robertson was respected by
colleagues and soon became a supervisor. When Woomera closed and the
operation transferred to the Baxter centre near Port Augusta, Robertson
went too. One former colleague remembers him as even-tempered, fair and
good in a crisis - "the best operator at Woomera". Robertson has
been unable to work, his marriage teeters in the balance, and he rarely
leaves the loungeroom of his modest Port Augusta home. He does not
socialise, and spends his time bent over the computer, poring over state
and federal law, or on the phone to any bureaucrat or politician who will
talk to him about immigration detention. It is an obsession. He has
reflected long and hard about why it all went so wrong in immigration
detention centres. All the officers interviewed for this story said
training was inadequate. In an intensive four- to six-week course, new
recruits practised restraint and riot drills, became familiar with the
Migration Act, and were encouraged to treat detainees with respect.
Robertson does not think any training could have prepared officers for the
dire daily situations. He told ABC TV's Four Corners program that three
days after training he was at Woomera when 500 detainees attempted to
escape. The job was close to impossible. Detention centres became violent;
chaos reigned. These desert prisons held people who were distressed and
traumatised for months or years on end, waiting for news on their visa
applications. Many eventually became deranged. Riots, hunger strikes,
self-harm and suicide attempts were common. Officers became the focus of
detainee anger and resentment, and threats were made against them and their
families. It angers Robertson that he and colleagues were denied help.
"We were the police; we were the mental health-care workers; we were
the social workers," he recalls bitterly. Detention centres had rules,
and most detainees obeyed them. A core group, however, was troublesome and
the only consequence of their behaviour was incarceration in the
"management unit", a form of solitary confinement where detainees
frequently became so unmanageable it was easier to return them to their
compounds. Troublemakers lit fires, smashed windows, stood over and bullied
others and assaulted officers with relative impunity. Experts argue that
incarceration in detention centres induces mental illness. According to ACM
statistics for October 2001, three psychologists saw 764 residents at
Woomera. A psychiatrist visited every few weeks, but daily care of people
with mental illness was left to untrained officers. Rod Gigney, a kindly
officer, would bribe Anna with fruit, trying to curb her behaviour. The
young woman wandered around naked at Baxter and defecated on the floor. To
officers less sympathetic, Anna was just a heroin-addicted, damned
nuisance. She turned out to be the schizophrenic German-born Australian
Cornelia Rau. Gigney made many reports about Anna to management, without
effect. Carol Wiltshire was deeply concerned about a woman who had not left
her room for 10 months. She was catatonic, covered in bedsores and unable
to tend to her small child. Wiltshire's supervisor suggested she "poke
her with a stick and see if she's still alive". It was another month
before she was transferred to Adelaide's Glenside mental health facility.
Understaffing was significant and chronic. Often an officer as young as 20
would be left alone in a compound where three officers were required,
leaving them vulnerable and insecure. Sean Ferris was alone at Baxter when
a riot broke out. He locked himself in the office, which was pounded with
stones and set alight. Simon Forsyth, then 21, faced a fire on his first
shift at Baxter. He did not know how to use the extinguisher. An October
2005 report recounts the incident that ended Robertson's career. By then,
Baxter detainees were predominantly visa overstayers and criminals awaiting
deportation. There was a fight, Robertson was assaulted and "suddenly
I lost control". "I was really trying to hurt people; I had my
hands around their throats." And that was that. The once solid and
reliable officer, mentor to fellow workers, finally cracked. Battered,
bruised and hysterical, he was driven home. When he said he was fit to
return to work three weeks later, he broke down, was subsequently diagnosed
with an adjustment disorder and has not worked since. Clive Skinn, a Port
Augusta local who worked at Woomera and Baxter, loathes all detainees.
Sitting uncomfortably on the couch in Robertson's lounge room, he is tense
with anger. "My body is full of hatred," Skinn says. He had not
given refugees a thought before he went to Woomera; he knew nothing about
Muslims. On his second day on the job, a detainee head-butted him. Another
spat at him soon after. Wiltshire says Skinn was never the same after
having to cut down a man who attempted to hang himself. Life became
unmanageable. Skinn was quick to anger, could not get on with his children,
could not sleep. He awoke suddenly one morning convinced that there were
Muslims in his house. He seized a chair and trashed the place, smashed
windows and the TV, broke holes in the walls. He was diagnosed with anxiety
and depression and spent 18 months on workers' compensation. While still
profoundly affected, he holds down a job in an underground mine at Roxby
Downs, but the past catches up with him. "I'd like to kill them
all," Skinn says of detainees. "And I feel the same way about the
children. They were as bad as the parents." Gigney's breakdown was a
consequence of concern for detainees. He listened to their despair,
smuggled extra milk rations for children, and watched helplessly as they
suffered physically and mentally. A boy, 12, was among the three would-be
suicides he cut down. Officers who displayed compassion were held in
contempt by many co-workers, and became known as "care bears".
The diminutive and softly spoken Annie Brown (not her real name), 55,
thought working at Baxter would be an opportunity to help the unfortunate.
Each day she would say to herself, "I've got 12 hours to make these
people's lives better." For this she was taunted and ridiculed by
fellow officers; for Annie, the worst part of work at Baxter was the
attitude of many co-workers. Annie's husband is also a former Baxter
officer. "We were people who had normal lives," Annie says
through tears. "We don't have them any more." After being ignored
by superiors, she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder,
anxiety, depression and agoraphobia, and for a year could not leave her
house. Many people with post-traumatic stress disorder have to confront the
fact that what was normality is not likely to return. This is Rohde's
reality. "I want my life back," she says. "But the
psychiatrist has said that I will never be the person I was before. I have
to try to learn to live with the person I am now." Three years since
his diagnosis, Robertson shows no sign of improvement. For Kendall, life
with Trevor is close to unbearable. She says he is distant, obnoxious and
arrogant. He gets angry with the children, impatient, distracted. He does
not go to bed until 3am, and rises late. As Jones and Robertson do
seemingly fruitless battle with bureaucrats, they are frustrated that
former detainees can pursue compensation for psychological damage but
former officers cannot. Gigney continues to try to find work. In his home
town of Whyalla the mining boom is in full swing, but being sound of body
is not enough for him to take advantage of it. He has just made his second
attempt to get a truck driver's licence. He would pulled over to answer his
phone when a water truck went past, triggering a flashback to the water
cannon used during riots at Woomera, and an incident involving children. He
sat in the cabin and wept. In the suburban Adelaide pub where she works as
a kitchenhand, Wiltshire shares a drink with another former officer,
Barbara Zillner. The camaraderie among former officers is akin to that
between Vietnam War veterans - no one else comprehends what they went
through. In 2000 Wiltshire, a single mother doing it tough, saw Woomera as
a chance to escape the poverty trap. Like others, she broke down, diagnosed
with an adjustment disorder. Her road to recovery has been hard, but she
now holds down a job and a relationship. Having recovered a measure of
equilibrium in her life, she looks back and wonders at what she went
through. "I was proud to be a detention centre officer, protecting
Australia's borders. Then I changed. I became a monster, a cowboy, like all
the other officers. They were all driven crazy. When I look back, I just
think - what the hell did I do that for? To end up hating people for no
reason."

March 3, 2006 Sidney Morning HeraldA DAY of turmoil in the nation's immigration system ended with the
Federal Government backing down on several fronts yesterday. It agreed to
pay damages to a boy traumatised in detention and allowed a deported
Melbourne man to return to Australia on humanitarian grounds. A damning
report released by an independent auditor yesterday also raised questions
about a successful 2003 bid by the immigration detention contractor GSL,
whose contract the Government refused to renew on Wednesday. In Sydney, an
11-year-old Iranian, Shayan Badraie, was offered damages for trauma he
suffered in Woomera and Villawood detention centres. The move comes after a
63-day Supreme Court hearing. While in detention between March 2000 and
August 2001, the boy became severely traumatised after witnessing riots, a
stabbing and a string of other disturbing incidents. He subsequently spent
94 days in hospital, and still requires treatment. Commonwealth lawyers
approached lawyers representing Shayan this week to offer a settlement for
damages. The exact sum will be fixed at a hearing this morning but is
expected to be more than $1 million. Meanwhile, the immigration detention
contractor GSL was found to have been hired even though it was more
expensive and provided inferior services to competitors, the National Audit
Office announced yesterday. GSL's bid was $32.6 million higher than that of
the incumbent detention centre operator, ACM, when the latter's bid
expired. The audit office found the basis on which ACM was paid $5.7
million after it missed out on the contract was "doubtful", since
the department was only required to compensate for matters pertaining to
detention. Immigration could not provide evidence of the criteria under
which the sum was paid. The audit also found the head of the steering
committee, which was heavily involved in the evaluation of the bids, gave a
reference for ACM's bid. An independent probity adviser told the steering
committee seven months later that this should not happen again.

July 29, 2004Two murals border a grassy patch in the fenced-in
adult education compound of the Baxter immigration detention centre.
Goldfish feature in one. The other, still being painted by detainees
yesterday, is an abstract composition of nine blue eyes and brown faces.
For the first time since the fires in 2002, journalists were allowed in the
centre. An Iranian detainee, who said he had been in detention for about
four years, waited until the Immigration Department official was out of
earshot before he started whispering to the Herald. The mural of the
eyes represented confusion, he explained. "People don't know
what they're doing, they've lost their personality, they don't know what
happens to them," he said. And the fish? "If you
scream underwater, nobody hears your voice, if you're crying, nobody
hears." One area the media had never seen before was the grim
"Management Unit", where detainees with behavioural issues are
put into solitary confinement - sometimes for more than a month at a
time. The Red compound, burnt during the fires in 2002, is for
"problem" detainees who have come out of the "Management
Unit" and are being "re-integrated" into the general
detention centre population. There were no detainees in the Red compound
yesterday either - just empty non-carpeted rooms with metal furniture
bolted to the floor and a peephole for guards to look through when doing
their head counts each night. (Sidney Morning Mail)

November 20, 2003
A High Court judge has cleared the way for a challenge to Australia's detention
laws that could ultimately result in all children being released from
immigration detention centres. High Court Justice Kenneth Hayne ruled
in Melbourne yesterday that the challenge, launched by refugee advocate
Eric Vadarlis, could proceed to a February hearing before the court's full
bench. The legal action aims to free four child detainees from South
Australia's Baxter Detention Centre on the grounds that the detention of
children for administrative purposes is unconstitutional. (The Age)

July 30, 2003
An Iranian man at the Baxter detention centre has refused to eat for
the past 18 days after his seven-year-old daughter was sent back to
Iran, the Australian Democrats said today. Kate Reynolds,
Democrats' social justice spokeswoman in South Australia's upper house,
called for authorities to provide medical care and grief counseling to
Amin Mastipour (Amin Mastipour), who was on a hunger strike in a Baxter
isolation unit. "I cannot believe that this man's child - who
has been with him for the past five years - has been torn away from him
like this," Ms Reynolds said. (Sidney Morning News)

July 27, 2003
Alamdar Bakhtiyari, who has spent three of his mere 15 years living in
detention, says he never wants to come out. He says he feels safer behind
Baxter detention centre's razor wire. As he sits with The Age,
his angry father at his side, Alamdar is edgy, fearful. His face switches
like a flashing light, now scowling, now smiling. When he does speak,
his words tumble out filled with accusations and disbelief. "It is not
fair you come and talk to us, and then you go home to your family and a
nice house and we stay here. We are not free to leave. You have lovely
homes and families, but all we have is nothing, not even our freedom.
"I am not allowed to enjoy freedom like other boys. It makes me crazy,
I hate it here. I hate Australia. I am not a criminal, I have done nothing
wrong." Then the switch is thrown again. "You know what ACM
stands for?" he says flashing a smile. "Always Changing their Minds."
Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) is the private company that runs
Baxter and decides what Alamdar can and cannot do. After almost three
years of detention, Alamdar, with his younger brother Montazar (Monty),
bears all the signs of someone completely institutionalised. His fear of
the outside world outweighs his fear of incarceration. He says his life has
been torn apart by the competing forces in Australia's immigration debate:
the refugee activists, the lawyers, the media and Immigration Minister
Philip Ruddock. Alamdar carries the scars of detention, some of which
are still visible. At the height of the Woomera turmoil, when riots and
hunger strikes were commonplace and teenage detainees were threatening to
kill themselves and drinking shampoo, Alamdar stitched his lips together.
Out of frustration he slashed himself repeatedly with razor blades, and in
a moment of deep despair he gouged the word "freedom" into his
forearm. (The Age)

April 21, 2003
South Australian police have apologized to protestors after a heavily
tactical response squad drove into their camp near the Baxter detention
centre searching for a rifle that had allegedly been aimed at a police
helicopter. The search of the site turned up a camera tripod. A
total of 33 people were arrested during the three-day Easter protest
against mandatory detention of asylum seekers. More than 350 police
were on hand for the protests. But as protesters left, riot police
charged at selected groups to clear them from the area. (The Age)

April 18, 2003
Police clashed with protesters outside the Baxter detention centre today
after demonstrators climbed barricades and tried to march on the
centre. Ignoring police appeals to remain beyond a roadblock erected
to seal access to the centre, hundreds of protesters confronted police in a
tense stand-off this afternoon. Some protesters climbed the
barricades and attempted to make their way on foot to the centre's main
gates, before a second line of police blocked their path and began confiscating
camping equipment. Hundreds of protesters from around Australia have
converged on Port Augusta to rally against the government's treatment of
asylum seekers. Some 300 police officers were redeployed to Port
Augusta this weekend, after last year's Easter rally at the Woomera
detention centre, during which detainees staged several mass escapes with
the help of demonstrators. Refugee Action Collective protest
organiser Fleur Taylor, from Melbourne, said centre manager Australasian
Correctional Management (ACM), authorized by the Department of Immigration
(DIMIA), had increased punishment of Baxter detainees. (The Age)

March 10, 2003
Two men who escaped from the Baxter immigration detention centre last night
spent just hours on the run before being recaptured by South Australian
police early today. Police said the men fled into bushland north of
the Port Augusta facility at 11.18pm (CDT). A search involving local
police and Australian Federal Police was organised, including the use of a
police aircraft. (The Age)

January 3, 2003It was meant to be the
new, friendlier face of Australia's asylum seeker

policy.
Although an electrified

fence runs around the outside, and
security cameras are everywhere except in

private areas, the

rooms are modern. There is more grass and play area for children
than in

other centres. But today part

of Baxter
lies in ruins, and along with it any hope of an easy resolution to

the
fate of Australia's

asylum seekers.

Just after midnight on
Friday last week a fire broke out in an empty room in

Red 1, a
men's compound

at Baxter. Although detainees cannot possess
matches or lighters, arsonists

may have made a lighter

from
electric wiring or a toaster. They had mattresses and newspapers -

plenty
of fuel.

Two nights later, a bigger fire was lit in Red 1. Staff tried
to put it out

but did not have enough water.

Fire
crews arrived, people were banging on doors to wake those still asleep.

Many detainees were

collapsing from smoke inhalation.

At about 3pm that day more
fires were lit. Desperate to get out but told not

to,
detainees broke down

the gate and tried to break out of the
compound. Guards in riot gear

confronted them. When some

detainees were asked why they had started the fire they replied:
"We were

trying to get away. The

centre is
making us crazy."

By Sunday night the fires were spreading, first to
Port Hedland detention

centre, later to Woomera,

Christmas
Island and Villawood. The "ferocity" of the actions took guards by

surprise, an ACM

employee said.

On December 17, newspapers
in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne

published the same

article. Carrying headlines such as "Five Star Asylums"
and "It's not all

mriots at our Club Fed", it

reported
that detainees enjoyed luxuries such as gyms, Foxtel, DVDs and yoga

classes.

The article, and a similar
one in a Port Hedland newspaper, made some people

the article's information was wrong for Port Hedland. The article
also

troubled Harry Minas of the

Federal
Government's Independent Detention Advisory Group.

Neither Professor Minas
nor Ms Fabb suggest a direct link between the

article and the
arson but

many asylum seeker advocates feel the article helped
to exacerbate what one

advocate describes as a

"huge
deterioration" in the mood of detainees in the past month.

A shift is under way in
the centres. Numbers are dwindling. No boat has

reached
Australia for 14

months. Baxter, Woomera and Port Hedland are
way below capacity.

On New Year's Eve the Immigration Department
handed a letter to 488

detainees in Baxter, Port

Hedland
and Woomera. The letter said most of them had been rejected as

refugees
and had "no right

to remain in this country . . . You can
choose to bring your detention to an

end at any time by leaving

Australia".

According to what an Iranian detainee told asylum
seeker advocate Ian

Knowles, a group of men,

infuriated
by the letter, marched to the immigration office and demanded to

be
deported straight away.

Guards in riot gear pushed them back to a
compound. ACM confirmed that tear

gas was used.

Mr Minas adds:
"People are saying, 'It's their (the detainees') own bloody

fault',
and in a way it is.

"But people have to ask what makes this group
prefer be in a detention

centre environment rather

than
to go go home.

"They are not choosing a soft life in
Australia." (The Age)

January 3, 2003
Thirteen pairs of scissors, two chisels, home-made weapons, broken glass
panels and lighter fluid have been found after searches in Australia's
seven immigration detention centres. But strip searches of the 132
men detained at Baxter and Woomera in South Australia, conducted this week,
apparently uncovered little. An Immigration Department statement
refers only to two mobile phones and one screwdriver being found. The
five-day spree of violence in five of the seven immigration detention
centres has left a damages bill of $8.4 million. The bill climbed
$400,000 yesterday after the Immigration Department revealed the cost of
fires at Christmas Island four days ago. (The Age)

December 29, 2002Asylum seekers who caused
more than $2 million in damage by using bedding and furniture to fuel six
separate fires at the three-month-old Baxter Detention Centre in South
Australia face jail terms before being deported.One of the centre's nine compounds was
destroyed after five fires began simultaneously early yesterday, and 13
people, including two guards, were taken to hospital.

Forty-seven detainees were
evacuated to another compound within the centre, where another big fire
broke out shortly after 3.30pm.Eighty-one rooms were destroyed, including 17 in the second
compound. Two en suite units were destroyed and a mess hall was damaged.According to the Department of
Immigration website, riots in detention centres have caused more than $5
million in damage over the past 18 months. More than three-quarters of this
has occurred at Woomera Detention Centre, where six buildings were destroyed
in riots in August 2000 and a further three burnt during riots in November
last year. (Sidney Morning Hearld)

December 27, 2002
Inmates at South Australia's Baxter detention centre used mattresses and
newspapers to light three fires that gutted a complex of four rooms,
Australasian Correctional Management said yesterday. The fires, which
caused an estimated $60,000 damage, have been referred by the Department of
Immigration to Australian Federal Police for investigation. A
spokesman for Australasian Correctional Management, which is contracted to
run the Baxter immigration detention centre, said the fires had been lit in
the single men's complex, which included two bedrooms and two toilet
areas. (The Age)

November 6, 2002
Up to 30 detainees at South Australia's Baxter detention centre were hit by
nearly 50 guards in full riot gear last week and then refused medical
treatment, according to an asylum seeker. Afghan Fahim Shah said
about eight detainees were hurt last Thursday's attack in the mess where
about 30 people were eating dinner. "They threw my plate and
beat me with the stick and pushed me three times with the shield to go
outside from the mess," he said. He said there had been two
other incidents of brutality by Australasian Correctional Management guards
at the centre since it opened about six weeks ago. (The Age)

Ben
Reid Community CF, Houston, Texas (AKA Southeast
Texas Transitional Center)Oct
8, 2012 HoustonPress.com
The rapist of a 16-year-old girl is the latest sexual predator to slip
through the sieve that is the privately run Southeast Texas Transitional
Center. Thomas Lee Elkins, convicted of aggravated kidnapping and sexual
assault in 1991, absconded from the facility, 10950 Old Beaumont Highway,
October 5, according to reports. He's the sixth offender to float away from
Southeast in 24 months. Formerly known as the Ben A. Reid Community
Correctional Facility, Southeast is run by the Florida-based GEO Group,
which, despite its appalling track record in Texas and elsewhere, keeps getting
sweet state contracts. But hey, what's the big deal about losing a child
rapist or two, right? Elkins is 6-3, about 200 lbs., and has a "Fu
Manchu" mustache, which we're totally sure he hasn't shaved. We're
also sure GEO Group won't have to pay any sort of penalty for this escape.
They certainly weren't held accountable when another resident, Anthony Ray
Ferrell, took a stroll in October 2010 and wound up gunning down a Good
Samaritan who tried to stop Ferrell from stealing a woman's purse at a gas station.
Look, clearly the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has more important
things to do -- like monitor employees' Facebook use -- than make sure its
contractors, like, keep the public safe and stuff. Anyone want to take bets
on how long it'll be before another degenerate escapes?

April
6, 2012 Houston Press Blogs
A high-risk child rapist who hopped over his halfway house's barbed wire
fence Thursday night is the fifth sex offender to abscond from the
privately run Southeast Texas Transitional Center in 18 months. According
to the Houston Chronicle story linked above, authorities say Michael Elbert
Young, who might be "mentally unstable if not taking medication,"
removed his electronic tracking monitor. He was "released from prison
after serving eight years for two aggravated assault convictions. Both were
sex related. He also served a 20-year term for sexual assault of a child
and attempted aggravated sexual assault." Oh, and he has a history of
using knives. Owned and operated by Florida-based GEO Group, the facility
at 10950 Old Beaumont Highway was formerly known as the Ben A. Reid
Community Correctional Facility. Apparently, since GEO can't keep track of
its convicted sexual predators, it just figured changing the name would
solve the problem. After all, it's much cheaper than hiring a competent
staff and improving security. In October 2010, Anthony Ray Ferrell walked
out of Southeast Texas/Ben A. Reid, and was later charged with gunning down
a Good Samaritan who intervened when Ferrell allegedly tried to snatch a
woman's purse inside a gas station convenience store. A week before Ferrell
strolled off the grounds, Bruce McCain, convicted of two sexual assaults in
1986, fled the facility. In December 2010, Arthur William Brown, who had
served 31 years for aggravated sexual assault of two women and a
16-year-old, did the same. A month after that, sex offender Timothy Rosales
Jr. absconded. Although some of these folks were caught, the problem is, as
we wrote earlier, the place is like a freaking sieve, and GEO has a sweet
contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice: There's apparently
no repercussion for escapes, and once a resident absconds, it's no longer
GEO's problem. All GEO personnel have to do is pick up a phone and notify
real-life law enforcement officers. Thanks, GEO. We certainly feel safer
with y'all at the wheel. And thanks, TDCJ, for continuing to do business
with them.

January 25, 2011 KTRK
High risk, armed and dangerous are the words being used to describe a sex
offender who absconded from a Houston halfway house on Monday night. It's
been nearly 24 hours since Timothy Rosales, Jr. disappeared from the
halfway house and he is no where to be found. The Texas Department of
Public Safety has since added him to it's Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives
list. Related Content More: Got a story idea? Let us know! Rosales was
doing maintenance work in the lobby of the Reid Center on Beaumont Highway
around 6:15pm Monday when he bolted through the front door, cut off his
electronic monitoring device around his ankle and fled. Rosales then did
not report back to his parole officer and a warrant was issued for his
arrest. Across the street at Melba's Country Kitchen, the owner and her
staff had no idea he'd absconded until today. Melba Barfield says she has
no reservations being this close to a halfway house where offenders can
leave, so long as they have an approved schedule. "I've been here nine
years and I've had absolutely no problems from the guys at the halfway
house. I know that several have walked away but they haven't stopped here
to get my dollar," said Barfield.

January 25, 2011 Houston Press Blogs
Timothy Rosales Jr. is the first rapist of 2011 to escape from the
privately run Ben Reid halfway house, and the second to escape in a little over
a month. The 39-year-old sex offender fled from the Beaumont Highway
facility around 6:15 Monday night, according to the Department of Public
Safety. He's considered armed and dangerous. And, like Arthur William
Brown, the rapist who escaped in late December, he was able to remove his
electronic monitoring ankle bracelet. We wrote about the unsecured Reid
facility, and its parent company, the Florida-based GEO Group, in December.
Two months before the story ran, Anthony Ray Ferrell escaped from Reid and
allegedly shot and killed a 24-year-old good Samaritan who intervened in a
gas station purse-snatching. Another rapist split the Reid facility a few
weeks before Ferrell slipped out. Although the place is like a freaking
sieve, there is nothing in GEO's contract with the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice about a maximum number of vicious sexual predators that
can be let loose on the public in a given amount of time. And once these
monsters step off the Reid premises, they're no longer GEO's problem: It is
up to actual real-life law enforcement officers to apprehend the escapees.
All GEO personnel need to do is pick up the phone and make a few calls once
they realize an offender hasn't returned on time. Needless to say, we're a
little concerned about the kind of people who are standing between the
public and some armed asshole who likes to rape 16-year-old kids. You know
who doesn't need to worry? GEO's top executives. Their salaries and
benefits are secure. They will continue to make money off the Reid facility.
And besides, their families don't live anywhere near the facility. So what
in the world would they have to worry about?

November 16, 2010 Houston Press
The man charged with killing a Good Samaritan during a purse-snatching is
the third person to escape the same state-contracted halfway house in the
last 20 months. Anthony Ray Ferrell had fled a "halfway house in the
10900 block of Beaumont Highway" in October, according to the Houston
Chronicle. The home in that block is the Ben A. Reid Community Correctional
Facility, from which sex offender Bruce McCain escaped in October 2010 and
Richard Williamson Griffin Jr. escaped in February 2009. (McCain was
arrested in the Rio Grande Valley three weeks after his escape). The home
was operated by private prison group Cornell Companies, which was bought by
its main competitor, the Florida-based GEO Group, last April. The facility
"provides temporary housing, monitoring and transitional services for
500 minimum-security adult male offenders," according to Cornell
Companies literature. Its "security measures include 24-hour custodial
supervision, 12-foot perimeter fence, outdoor lighting, close circuit
cameras, secure entrances and frequent census checks." Cornell
Companies/GEO also operate Houston's Leidel Comprehensive Sanctions Center.
In 2005, before GEO bought Cornell, a Leidel resident who got a day-pass
for church and never bothered to return; he fled to Fort Worth, where he
killed three men. Ferrell is accused of murdering Sam Irick at a Meyerland
convenience store last week. Irick tried to intervene as Ferrell allegedly
was robbing a customer.

Big
Spring Complex, Big Spring, TexasNovember
9, 2010 NewsWest 9
An accidental shooting on Tuesday at the federal prison in Big Spring put
an inmate in the hospital. The shooting happened right before noon at the
Flight Line Prison, located at the airpark in Big Spring. According to
medics, a Hispanic man was accidentally shot by a gun in the upper arm. The
wound was not serious, but he was taken to Scenic Mountain Medical Center
for a follow up. He was alert and conscious while being transported. We
still don't know how the prisoner was shot. Details are limited at this
time, but we've learned the shooting is under investigation. NewsWest 9 has
contacted the Geo Group, which currently runs the prison, and they have not
commented on the incident. NewsWest 9 will continue to follow this story
and will bring you the very latest information when we get it.

September 16, 2011 KCBDAfter auctioning off the Bill Clayton Detention Center back in July,
the City of Littlefield thought they were free from the financial strains.
However, the private bidder has backed out of their $6 million offer. The
private buyer made the offer via telephone during the July auction. Thirty
days after the bid, the contract on the property was supposed to close.
However, the City received word that the deal had fallen through. "It
didn't happen and the reason it didn't happen was because the person who
put in the highest bid basically backed out on their bid and kind of put us
in a tailspin," City Manager Danny Davis said. After years of
mismanagement and broken contracts, the $11 million dollar detention center
sat vacant. The city was left to foot the bill, still owing more than $9
million on the property. The city was certain the bid of $6 million would help
close the gap on their debt. The news of the bidder's change of heart is
frustrating for Davis. "With the detention center, nothing has
happened easy. It's been a struggle for us all along, so, in some ways, we
were not that surprised that we've got a continued struggle," Davis
said. It was a struggle that listing agent Jef Conn says he wasn't entirely
surprised by. "We always hope for the best and plan for the worst.
It's never the best when a contract falls out," Conn said. Conn says he
is working with the City of Littlefield to come up with a plan to get the
detention center sold. "There are some interested parties and we will
be working with them and the city of Littlefield to find the best possible
option and have them come in and buy the prison," Conn said. For
Davis, he is hopeful the detention center can be sold quickly to alleviate
concerns all across the board. "I'm retiring in two weeks, and I was
very hopeful that this would be one problem my successor wouldn't have to
deal with," Davis said.

July 28, 2011 Dallas Morning News
A debt-ridden West Texas town auctioned off the empty prison at the source
of its money problems for $6 million Thursday morning. A private prison
company bought the Bill Clayton Detention Center from the city of
Littlefield, whose approximately 5,700 residents had barely been scraping
by to pay the $9 million they still owed on the facility. The company
placed their offer as a confidential bidder and is requesting to remain
that way until the 30-day period for settling the sale is complete,
according to Jef Conn, a real estate specialist for Coldwell Banker
Commercial Rick Canup Realtors. The five-pod facility was built in 2000 by
hopeful city officials wanting to rake in revenue for the small
cotton-growing town. Instead, Littlefield was saddled with more than $9
million in debt once prisoners were pulled out and the private company
operating the center left. After the sale, Littlefield will only owe
between $3 million and $4 million on the facility, officials said.

July 27, 2011 American Independent
City officials in Littlefield have big hopes for tomorrow morning’s
auction, where a minimum bid of $5 million could be enough to buy your own
little slice of Panhandle heaven: the 383-bed Bill Clayton Detention
Center. It’s being billed as a “turn-key medium security detention center,”
a 383-bed bargain with slick promotions courtesy the Williams and Williams
Worldwide Real Estate Auction house. The 11-year-old prison was refurbished
in 2005, and looks great in the slideshows and teaser trailers produced for
the auction. (Here’s a longer video tour, but scroll down for a look at the
best one, a “Battlestar Galactica” inspired tour, all quick cuts and
drums.) For the City of Littlefield, though, the prison’s last couple years
haven’t been such a thrill ride. The town paid for the prison with a $10
million bond issue, planning for a bright future with the Texas Youth
Commission. But after TYC pulled pulled its charges from the facility in
2003, Littlefield’s credit rating suffered as the South Florida-based
private prison giant GEO Group shopped around the country for inmates to
fill its beds — first with Wyoming’s, then with Idaho’s Department of
Corrections. Idaho pulled its prisoners in 2008, GEO Group after them, and
the town’s been stuck with the empty prison it hasn’t finished paying for.
Now it’s raising taxes and fees on its 6,500 residents to make room for
bond payments. The empty prison is the driving force behind cuts to the
city budget this year, according to a City Manager’s message in the budget:
The budget for 2010-2011 has presented new challenges for us since the debt
payments for the Bill Clayton Detention Center (BCDC) have been pushed
front and center by the lack of a source of prisoners to provide a revenue
stream for those bond payments. Earlier this week, The Bond Buyer looked at
the Bill Clayton facility and a handful of others now sitting empty around
Texas. While many towns found ways to avoid leaving taxpayers on the hook
if operators left, that didn’t happen here: Like many of the speculative
detention centers built in sparsely populated counties, the Clayton
facility was meant to be an economic stimulus instead of an economic drain.
But Littlefield took the somewhat unusual step of pledging its full faith
and credit to the bonds. City officials were either on vacation or didn’t
reply to interview requests from the Independent. The advocacy group
Grassroots Leadership has made a case study of Bill Clayton, warning of the
hidden dangers private prisons can create for a town, and folks with the
group say Texas’ shrinking prison population doesn’t tell the half of the
Littlefield story. “This was like a soap opera,” said Grassroots Leadership
executive director Donna Red Wing, recalling a 2004 prison break police said
was aided by a pair of guards, and a 2008 suicide that sparked a suit
against GEO Group from the family of the inmate, alleging he’d been left in
solitary for more than a year. “You couldn’t make this stuff up, the
stories are horrible,” Red Wing said. “If you wrote that screenplay, they
wouldn’t take it.” When the Idaho DOC left the Clayton facility in 2008,
state Correction Director Brent Reinke said it was pulling out because of
“an ongoing staffing issue,” the Associated Press reported at the time, referring
to an Idaho audit that found guards had been falsifying reports of their
inmate checks. “Littlefield is a difficult place to have a facility. It’s a
long way from an employment base,” said Grassroots Leadership’s Bob Libal,
who edits the blog Texas Prison Bid’ness. Libal said the Clayton facility
was part of a much greater prison-building rush around Texas that ended
around 2007, followed by national searches for inmates to fill them. The
only growth lately, Libal said, has been in facilities for Immigration and
Customs Enforcement. A $35 million prison in Jones County was built by New
Jersey-based Community Education Centers last summer, and now sits empty,
as local TV station KTXS reported, “ready to bring nearly 200 jobs to the
area.” In that case, the county formed a Public Facility Corporation to
help minimize the taxpayers’ liability — but Libal said it could still mean
trouble for the county because its credit rating is still tied to the
prison debt. In January, Littlefield officials hoped the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice would sign off on an application from Avalon
Correctional Services to operate the prison, but nothing came of it. Now
the city just wants it off the books, even at half of what they paid. NPR
featured both the Clayton facility and Jones County’s new prison back in
March, before Littlefield had announced its auction: “Too many times we’ve
seen jails that have got into it and tried to make it a profitable business
to make money off of it and they end up fallin’ on their face,” says
Shannon Herklotz, assistant director of the [Texas Commission on Jail
Standards]. The packages look sweet. A town gets a new detention center
without costing the taxpayers anything. The private operator finances,
constructs and operates an oversized facility. The contract inmates pay off
the debt and generate extra revenue. The economic model works fine until
they can’t find inmates.

July 14, 2011 Willams Auction
This is a unique opportunity to acquire a turn-key medium security
detention center in Littlefield, TX. New owners will benefit from support
from the town that built the facility, the area's low cost of living as
well as a ready local workforce. Conveying with the buildings on auction
day are furniture, linens, computers, kitchen supplies and other equipment
used in the operation of the facility. Located approximately 45 minutes
northwest of Lubbock, it is easily accessible from Highway 84, the
Littlefield Municipal Airport, as well as Preston Smith International
Airport. The Bill Clayton Detention Center was built in 2000 and updated in
2005. Standing on 30+/- acres, the center has 94,437+/- sq ft of space. It
consists of five one-story air-conditioned buildings constructed of
concrete block with a brick veneer and pitch seamed metal roofs. It has a
capacity of 383 inmates in 5 housing pods, complete with dayrooms and other
amenities. The buildings are contained behind a strengthened perimeter of
double fences with an electronic shaker detection system and eight video
surveillance cameras. Approximately 10 acres are contained within the
fence. The facility also has a freestanding gymnasium, maintenance shed,
armory and parking lot. At the opening bid of $5 million, the cost per bed
is approximately $13,055!

May 19, 2011 Bradenton HeraldFitch Ratings has taken the following action on Littlefield, Texas'
combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation (COs) during the
course of routine surveillance: --$1 million combination tax and revenue
COs, series 1997 affirmed at 'BB+'. -- The Rating Outlook is Negative. --
RATING RATIONALE: --The 'BB+' rating and Negative Outlook reflect the
ongoing financial pressures resulting from Littlefield's challenges in
servicing outstanding debt issued for a now vacant detention center. The
city tapped reserve funds to help make the August 2010 debt service
payments on the series 2000 and 2001 COs (not rated by Fitch); $268,825 was
used from the combined reserves - that money has since been repaid and the
reserves are fully funded. No reserve funds were used to make February 2011
payments. --Despite ongoing efforts to find a new tenant/operator, the
city's detention center remains empty. The city council recently entered
into a contract with an auction company to auction off the facility within
120 days. --Financial resources to make debt service payments have been
aided by the adoption in fall 2010 of a debt service property tax and
transfers from the city's two economic development corporations' sales tax
revenues; transfers from the city's water and wastewater utility fund,
which are secondary pledged revenues for the Series 1997 COs, remain the
main source of debt service support. --General fund finances remain weak,
with limited reserves. -- WHAT COULD TRIGGER A DOWNGRADE A failed auction
would maintain financial pressure on the city, forcing it to continue with
the current practice of cobbling together debt service payment amounts from
various sources; utility system cash levels could decline and additional
reserve fund draws could occur. -- SECURITY: The series 1997 COs are
payable from and secured by a limited ad valorem tax pledge against all
taxable property in the city, plus surplus revenues of the city's
waterworks and sanitary sewer system. -- CREDIT SUMMARY: The city has been
unable to locate a new tenant and/or permanent operator of its detention
facility since the State of Idaho removed its prisoners in January 2009 and
the GEO Group terminated its operating agreement at the same time. With no
facility revenues to service the debt associated with the facility, the
city in subsequent months patched together payments from various city
sources, primarily available revenues of the water and wastewater utility
system. The city was current on its payments until August 2010, when legal
questions surrounding the city's ability to use sales tax revenues from its
4A economic development corporation delayed use of those funds. The city
used nearly $269,000 from the debt service reserves associated with the
series 2000 and 2001 COs issued for the detention center to make the August
2010 payment on these COs. Since then, the legal question regarding use of
economic development corporation sales tax revenues has been resolved
favorably for the city and the debt service reserves were fully
replenished. Also, last fall the city council established a debt service
property tax for the first time, which is expected to generate roughly
$115,000 annually to help meet debt service requirements. Finally,
Littlefield voters last fall approved the creation of a second 4B economic
development corporation (also with sales tax collection authority), and
that corporation's sales tax receipts will supplement the revenue stream.
The combination of sales tax revenues and property tax revenues, a utility
system transfer and a loan of other city funds enabled the city to make the
February 2011 principal and interest payment on the detention center COs
without tapping the reserve funds. Acknowledging the difficulty in securing
new prisoners for the facility, the city recently executed a contract with
a national auction house which will put into motion the process of
auctioning off the detention facility within 120 days. Management reports
that a $5 million reserve (minimum bid) will be included in the bid
specifications. While a sale at this price will not retire the $9.5 million
outstanding in related CO debt, it would enable the city to call a
significant portion of the COs, reduce the annual debt requirement
correspondingly, and relieve the current financial pressure measurably.
Conversely, a failed auction will mean the city continues with its current
practice of piecing together city revenues from various sources to meet
debt payments - a challenging prospect that will keep pressure very high.
Financial flexibility remains limited. The general fund balance is modest,
with the city recording a $17,000 fund balance at fiscal 2010 year-end, or
less than 1% of expenditures and transfers out. While the water and sewer
fund maintains healthy liquidity and has historically provided significant
general fund and detention center fund support, available surplus funds are
expected to decline going forward as excess revenues are used to continue
support of the general fund. The new debt service property tax and
additional sales tax revenues help, but do not eliminate the need for
utility system support. Utility debt service support was budgeted at more
than $390,000 for fiscal 2011, or 50% of the $781,000 annual CO debt
requirement. If the auction fails, reliance on utility system transfers
until the COs are retired does not appear feasible; an alternative
permanent solution would need to be devised. Littlefield, with a population
of nearly 6,400, is located approximately 35 miles northwest of Lubbock and
serves as the county seat for Lamb County. The area is primarily rural in
nature, with agriculture services, government, manufacturing, and trade as
key components of the county's economy. County unemployment rates have
risen, with a 7.6% posted for February 2011; however, the rate remains
below the statewide average of 8.2%. While there is moderate taxpayer
concentration among the top 10 taxpayers, there is generally a good mix of
industries within the list.

March 28, 2011 NPR
Private Prison Promises Leave Texas Towns In Trouble by John Burnett The country
with the highest incarceration rate in the world — the United States — is
supporting a $3 billion private prison industry. In Texas, where free
enterprise meets law and order, there are more for-profit prisons than any
other state. But because of a growing inmate shortage, some private jails
cannot fill empty cells, leaving some towns wishing they'd never gotten in
the prison business. It seemed like a good idea at the time when the west
Texas farming town of Littlefield borrowed $10 million and built the Bill
Clayton Detention Center in a cotton field south of town in 2000. The
charmless steel-and-cement-block buildings ringed with razor wire would
provide jobs to keep young people from moving to Lubbock or Dallas. For
eight years, the prison was a good employer. Idaho and Wyoming paid for
prisoners to serve time there. But two years ago, Idaho pulled out all of
its contract inmates because of a budget crunch at home. There was also a
scandal surrounding the suicide of an inmate. Shortly afterward, the
for-profit operator, GEO Group, gave notice that it was leaving, too. One
hundred prison jobs disappeared. The facility has been empty ever since. A
Hard Sell "Maybe ... he'll help us to find somebody," says
Littlefield City Manager Danny Davis good-naturedly when a reporter shows
up for a tour. For sale or contract: a 372-bed, medium-security prison with
double security fences, state-of-the-art control room, gymnasium, law
library, classrooms and five living pods. Davis opens the gray steel door
to a barren cell with bunk beds and stainless-steel furniture. "You
can see the facility here. [It's] pretty austere, but from what I
understand from a prison standpoint, it's better than most," he says,
still trying to close the sale. For the past two years, Littlefield has had
to come up with $65,000 a month to pay the note on the prison. That's $10
per resident of this little city. A Resident Burden Is the empty prison a
big white elephant for the city of Littlefield? "Is it something we
have that we'd rather not have? Well, today that would probably be the
case," Davis says. To avoid defaulting on the loan, Littlefield has
raised property taxes, increased water and sewer fees, laid off city
employees and held off buying a new police car. Still, the city's bond rating
has tanked. The village elders drinking coffee at the White Kitchen cafe
are not happy about the way things have turned out. "It was never
voted on by the citizens of Littlefield; [it] is stuck in their craw,"
says Carl Enloe, retired from Atmos Energy. "They have to pay for it.
And the people who's got it going are all up and gone and they left us...
" "...Holdin' the bag!" says Tommy Kelton, another Atmos
retiree, completing the sentence. The Declining Prison Population The same
thing has happened to communities across Texas. Once upon a time, it seems
every small town wanted to be a prison town. But the 20-year private prison
building boom is over. Some prisons are struggling outside Texas, too.
Hardin, Mont., defaulted on its bond payments after trying, so far
unsuccessfully, to fill its 464-bed minimum security prison. And a prison
in Huerfano County, Colo., closed after Arizona pulled out its 700 inmates.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the total correctional
population in the United States is declining for the first time in three
decades. Among the reasons: The crime rate is falling, sentencing
alternatives mean fewer felons doing hard time and states everywhere are
slashing budgets. The Texas legislature, looking for budget cuts, is
contemplating shedding 2,000 contract prison beds. Statewide, more than
half of all privately operated county jail beds are empty, according to
figures from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. "Too many times
we've seen jails that have got into it and tried to make it a profitable
business to make money off of it and they end up fallin' on their
face," says Shannon Herklotz, assistant director of the commission.
The packages look sweet. A town gets a new detention center without costing
the taxpayers anything. The private operator finances, constructs and
operates an oversized facility. The contract inmates pay off the debt and
generate extra revenue. The economic model works fine until they can't find
inmates. In Waco, McLennan County borrowed $49 million to build an 816-bed
jail and charge day rates for bunk space. But today because of the convict
shortage, the fortress east of town remains more than half empty. The
sheriff and county judge, once champions of the new jail, now decline to
comment on it. Former McLennan County Deputy Rick White, who opposed the
jail, had this to say about the prison developers who put the deal
together: "They get the corporations formed, they get the bonds sold,
they get the facility built, their money is front-loaded, they take their
money out. And then there's no reason for them to support the success of
the facility." Two of Texas' busiest private prison consultants —
James Parkey and Herb Bristow — declined repeated requests for interviews.
The Inmate Market Private prison companies insist their future is sunny. A
spokesman for the GEO Group declined to speak about the Littlefield prison,
but he sent along a slew of press releases highlighting the company's new
inmate contracts and prison expansions across the country. Corrections
Corporation of America, the nation's largest private prison operator, says
the demand for its facilities remains strong, particularly for federal
immigration detainees. New Jersey-based Community Education Centers, which
has been pulling out of unprofitable jails across Texas, issued a statement
that "the current (jail) population fluctuation" is cyclical. One
of the places where CEC is cancelling its contract is Falls County, in
central Texas, where a for-profit jail addition is losing money. Now it's
up to Falls County Judge Steve Sharp to hustle up jailbirds: "If
somebody is out there charging $30 a day for an inmate, we need to charge
$28. We really don't have a choice of not filling those beds," he
said. Another place where they're desperate for inmates is Anson, the
little town north of Abilene, Texas, once famous for its no-dancing law.
Today, Jones County owns a brand-new $34 million prison and an $8 million
county jail, both of which sit empty. The prison developers made their
money and left. Then the Texas Department of Criminal Justice reneged on a
contract to fill the new prison with parole violators. The county's Public
Facility Corporation that borrowed the money to build the lockups owes
$314,000 a month — with no paying inmates. They've got a year's worth of
bond service payments set aside before county officials start to sweat.
"The market has changed nationwide in the last 18 months or two years.
It's certainly a different picture than when we started this project. And
so we're continuing to work the problem," Jones County Judge Dale
Spurgin says. Grayson County, north of Dallas, said no to privatizing its
jail. Two years ago, the county was all set to build a $30 million, 750-bed
behemoth twice as big as was needed. But the public got queasy and county
officials ultimately scuttled the deal. "When you put the profit
motive into a private jail, by design, in order to increase your dollars,
your revenues, your profits, you need more folks in there and they need to
stay longer," says Bill Magers, mayor of the county seat of Sherman, a
leading opponent. When the supply of prison beds exceeds the demand for
prison beds, there are beneficiaries. The overcrowded Harris County Jail in
Houston, the nation's third largest, farms out about 1,000 prisoners to
private jails. Littlefield and most other under-occupied facilities in
Texas have all been in touch with Houston. "It really is a buyer's
market right now, especially a county our size," says Capt. Robin
Kinetsky, who is in charge of inmate processing for the Harris County
Sheriffs Department. "They're really wanting to get our business. So,
we're getting good deals." Nearby, disheveled and unsmiling men are
brought from a holding cell to stand before a booking officer for their intake
interviews. The detainees are wholly unaware that they may soon become the
newest commodities of the volatile inmate market. Aarti Shahani contributed
to this NPR News investigation and report.

February 3, 2011 KCBD
While the Lubbock County Detention Center is filling up with inmates, other
counties are struggling to find an inmate. Taxpayers of those counties are
now being held prisoners by their own prisons as they're forced to pay the
price of empty facilities. About an hour from Lubbock, the Bill Clayton Detention
Center in Littlefield hasn't had a single inmate in the last two years.
"This was not built to house local inmates; it was built to house
inmates from other parts of the state or other parts of U.S. It was built
to bring economic development to the city of Littlefield," said Danny
Davis, Littlefield city manager. For a while it did bring money into
Littlefield, until the State of Idaho decided to remove its inmates from
the center when the economy tanked back in 2009. "Everybody was cutting
back it seemed, and it was very difficult to find other inmates from out of
state to come in and fill the facility," said Davis. Nearly 100 people
lost their job in the area, and with $9 million left to pay for the now
empty building, residents are stuck paying the price through increased
taxes and fees." Jokingly I've told people when I took this job I
weighed a lot more and had a lot more hair, so that's how I guess you can
say how the frustration level is. It has been a frustrating situation for
the whole community," said Davis. About two hours away Dickens County
faces a similar fate. Their contractor CEC didn't renew their contract with
the Dickens County Correctional Center. In mid-December the remaining
inmates were moved to Lubbock County's new facility, and nearly 120 jobs
were lost - huge hit to the small communities of Dickens County. "It
cost money to put people in jail. The state of the economy, the governments
don't have as much money. Our own state is cutting the budget, and there's
one way to save money…that's not to incarcerate them, and so that's why I
believe our inmate population is down," said Lesa Arnold, Dickens
County Judge. So far Dickens County hasn't had to increase taxes to foot
the prison's one million dollar bill each year, but that option might soon
surface. "We need to get this thing going within a year, and hopefully
a whole lot sooner than that before that issue comes up as to who's going
to make those bond payments," said Arnold. So how can Lubbock County
fill its newly built facility while these two and others around the U.S.
are failing? It comes down to why these facilities were built in the first
place. Littlefield and Dickens County didn't have an inmate population for
the large prisons they built; instead they were built to make a profit for
the towns by contracting out the prison cells to other parts of the state
and U.S. Lubbock on the other hand, needed the bigger facility. All 1,063
inmates currently in the Lubbock County Detention Center are from Lubbock
County, which means their cells will constantly be filled with a local
inmate population. The other facilities are staying hopeful a new inmate
population will come their way. "I can't worry about why we have it
because that's in the past. I can only worry about what can we do with it
now that we have it, and that's what we work on every day," said
Davis.

January 3, 2011 Avalanche-Journal
The city of Littlefield comes into 2011 hoping it will have a new tenant
renting the Bill Clayton Detention Center in a few months. The prison,
which closed in January 2009 after the Idaho Department of Corrections
canceled a contract with private operator GEO Group and moved its prisoners
from Littlefield to Oklahoma. Since then, the city has stretched itself
financially to keep making payments on revenue bonds it issues to build the
facility, which opened in 2000 as a juvenile detention center. The present
ray of hope comes with Avalon Correctional Services, which has applied to
TDCJ to operate an Intermediate Sanction Facility, which is a short-term
facility that houses offenders who violate terms of their community
supervision or paroles. The state issued a request for proposals in June,
but no decisions have been made yet. “It’s been on (TDCJ’s) agenda a couple
of times, but reading between the lines, it’s probably waiting until the
state gets a better handle on its budget,” said Danny Davis, Littlefield’s
city manager.

September 1, 2010 Smart Money
Owners of municipal bonds issued to pay for jails might not get to pass Go--and
could have trouble collecting interest payments as well. These tax free
bonds don't have a monopoly on defaults, but they're well represented among
failures and troubled issues among the more speculative classes of
municipal bonds. Data from Municipal Market Advisors reveals a slew of
tax-free bonds issued to fund construction of privately run prisons and
detention facilities in states from Texas to Rhode Island to Montana. The
most recent example is Littlefield, a West Texas town of about 6,500 people.
Located between the New Mexico border and Buddy Holly's hometown of
Lubbock, Littlefield had to dip into reserves to cover payments for about
$1.2 in bonds and other debt used to finance the Bill Clayton Detention
Center. The bonds were issued in 2000, but the expected revenue stream
evaporated when, after a prisoner suicide in 2008, the 310-bed private
prison lost its contract to house out-of-state inmates. In 2009, the Geo
Group (GEO), formerly known as Wackenhut Security, ended its operating
agreement with the detention center, leaving it unoccupied. In April, Fitch
Ratings, which in 2009 lowered the bonds to BB from BBB, affirmed a
negative rating outlook. Littlefield city manager Danny Davis says the city
is scrambling to avoid default on the $780,000 worth of annual payments and
plans to cut police and fire service while dramatically raising property
taxes when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. The property could be sold or
could be taken over by the state, though neither option is certain. "It's
going to be difficult," he says. "In the meantime, we're just
trying to keep our heads above water until we get to a solution." Bob
Libal is the Texas campaign coordinator for Grassroots Leadership, a
lobbying group which opposes for-profit prisons, and the editor of the blog
Texas Prison Bid'ness. He says many small towns agree to build
"speculative prisons" to be run by private contractors using
municipal bond financing but that many of these projects in a post-Sept. 11
boom have had trouble. Libal criticizes the development groups that get
paid up front for building detention centers thus saddling the bond-issuers
(usually special public facilities corporations created solely for those
projects) with risky debt. "They go after a lot of towns without a lot
of sophistication and resources to do the due diligence," Libal says.
"If they let the bonds go under, it's very difficult for them to issue
any more debt." Matt Fabian, director of research at Municipal Market
Advisors, cites similar bond woes in Central Falls, R.I.; Hardin, Mont.;
and Baker County, Fla., where about $105 million in total debt has run into
trouble because the prison projects haven't worked out as expected.
"The incarceration rates drives speculation," he says.
"There's an idea that you can profit from this prison trend."
Investors in these increasingly-insecure jail bonds have certainly had to
assume more risk, even though they get higher yields. The $99 million
Central Falls Detention Facility bond issue of 2005 entered technical default
in 2009 when it drew on its reserves to make payments. The bonds, issued at
par with a yield of 7.25%, last traded at the end of 2009 at 85.3 cents to
the dollar, with a yield of 8.69%. Municipal revenue bonds issued in 2002
that funded the West Alabama Youth Services detention facility defaulted in
2005. The bonds last traded in February at 9 cents to the dollar with a
yield of 73.6%. Fabian says some of the biggest private prison busts are
unlikely to have simple resolutions. A shopping center is easy to repurpose;
a detention center is not. "It's hard to restructure," he says.
"Even the land underneath a prison isn't worth as much as it
was." Even with a resurgent effort by the private prison industry to
use their facilities to detain illegal immigrants and an attempt by the
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to overhaul detention
procedures, problems persist. The Baker Correctional Development
Corporation, created to finance a correctional facility and immigration
detention center west of Jacksonville, Fla., dipped into reserves for its
August payment to holders of bonds issued in 2008. With those bonds trading
last at 71.25 cents to the dollar with a yield of 20.73%, investors looking
to lock up their money should probably seek less risky types of municipal
bonds.

June 17, 2010 Courthouse News
A man claims a corrupt private prison company, The GEO Group, bribed the
government to get contracts and then abused inmates, including his father,
who died at the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas, from
"grossly inhumane treatment, abuse, neglect, illegal and malicious
conditions of confinement." Daniel McCullough sued Texas-based GEO
Group and its top executives, all of Florida, and the warden of the jail
where his father, Randall, died on Aug. 18, 2008. In his complaint in Comal
County Court, Daniel McCullough says his father "was found dead after
supposedly being monitored by GEO and its personnel." The complaint
states: "McCullough's death was caused by specific breaches of duty by
the Defendants ... who engaged in grossly inhumane treatment, abuse,
neglect, illegal conditions of confinement, and subsequent coverup of
wrongdoings." McCullough claims that "GEO and its personnel were
found to have fabricated evidence, including practicing 'pencil whipping,'
a policy and practice of GEO to destroy and fabricate log books and other
relevant evidence." He claims that GEO and its officers
"personally engage in efforts to illegally influence public officials
in Austin, Texas and in the Texas counties where the GEO prisons are
located, including Laredo, Webb County, Texas. Their goal is to conceal,
deflect, hide or exculpate themselves and their company from all forms of
personal civil or criminal liability, censure, detriment, or punishment in
order to procure and continue their lucrative contracts at the expense of
the inmates' and their families' suffering. They and their company, GEO,
engage in a pattern and practice of abuse, neglect, public corruption, and
cover up." McCullough claims that GEO and its officers "have a
history of illegally neglecting, manipulating, and abusing inmates, and
then covering up their wrongful and illegal conduct." He claims these
abuses include "making illegal payments to governmental entities in
exchange for contracts and permits; ... destruction of evidence and lying
to state investigators; and misrepresentations to state and governmental
entities regarding conditions inside their facilities." He seeks
damages of $595 million - GEO's net worth - for gross negligence, breach of
duty, wrongful death, and pain and suffering. He is represented by Ronald
Rodriguez of Laredo.

April 14, 2010 Business WireFitch Ratings takes the following rating action on Littlefield, Texas'
(the city) as part of its continuous surveillance effort; --Approximately
$1.2 million in outstanding combination tax and revenue certificates of
obligation (COs), series 1997 rated 'BB.' The Rating Outlook remains
Negative. RATING RATIONALE: --The majority of the city's outstanding debt
is for a detention center (not rated by Fitch), which had been
self-supporting from detention center operations. However, both detention
center prisoners and the private operator left the facility in 2009, and
despite the city's active efforts to locate prisoners or sell the facility,
the detention center remains vacant. --The lack of a debt service tax levy
has resulted in considerable operating pressure. --A fully funded debt
service reserve remains in place, with the February 2010 principal and
interest payment made from available funds, primarily excess water and
sewer system revenues. Officials plan to make the next interest payment in
August 2010 from available funds as well, although there is a possibility
debt service reserve funds may be needed. --General fund reserves are
minimal; however, the water and sewer fund maintained about $800,000 in
unrestricted net assets for the close of fiscal 2009. The city is
considering making future detention center debt service payments from a
combination of budget reductions, available city funds, and the imposition
of an interest and sinking fund tax beginning in fiscal 2011. --The city's
tax base has shown moderate annual growth, and county unemployment rates,
although higher than a year ago, remain below the state and nation.
Proximity to the Lubbock metropolitan area offers additional employment
opportunities for residents.

August 24, 2009 Ad Hoc News
Fitch Ratings has downgraded to 'BB' from 'BBB-' the rating on Littlefield,
TX's (the city) outstanding $1.3 million combination tax and revenue
certificates of obligation (COs), series 1997, and removed the ratings from
Rating Watch Negative. The CO's constitute a general obligation of the
city, payable from ad valorem taxes limited to $2.50 per $100 taxable
assessed valuation (TAV). Additionally, the COs are secured by a pledge of
surplus water and sewer revenues. The Rating Outlook is Negative. The
downgrade reflects events related to the operation of the city's detention
center facility, which accounts for the majority of outstanding debt (which
was not rated by Fitch but is on parity with the series 1997 bonds). To the
surprise of city officials, Idaho announced their plans to leave the
Littlefield facility in January 2009, citing the need to consolidate all of
its out-of-state prisoners into a larger facility in Oklahoma. In addition,
the detention center's private operator, the Geo Group, unexpectedly
announced termination of their agreement to manage the facility effective
January 2009. The move to leave Littlefield by the Geo Group is
significant, given that the established private operator had made sizable
equity investments in the detention center reportedly totaling
approximately $2 million. In the past, the ability of the Geo Group to
quickly replace prisoners with little disruption in operations, as well as
their investment in the Littlefield detention center were cited as credit
strengths. On Dec. 9, 2008, Fitch placed the series 1997 bonds on Rating
Watch Negative, reflecting the city's active pursuit of various alternatives
to remedy the situation and possibly resolve it within the next several
months. Funds to repay debt service on detention center COs through August
2010 had been identified through available city funds as well as a debt
service reserve fund. The city indicated to Fitch in May 2009 that it was
in negotiations with another established jail operator (the operator) to
assume management of the Littlefield facility and that the operator was
attempting to secure an agreement with a federal agency to house prisoners.
Resolution or near resolution of this agreement was expected by August
2009. However, the operator has yet to secure a prisoner agreement and the
timing for resolution remains uncertain. The downgrade to 'BB' reflects the
uncertainty as to when and if the city can secure an operator for the
detention center as well as the city's limited financial resources to repay
the detention center debt. While the city continues to pursue an agreement
with the operator (and other private companies in the event negotiations
with the operator break down), the Negative Outlook reflects the potential
financial hardship placed on the city if a long-term viable solution is not
found. Although the detention center COs are also secured by an ad valorem
tax pledge, the city levies a property tax for operations only. Officials
report that the 2010 proposed budget does not include any property tax levy
for debt service, but the city is investigating funding alternatives for
future detention center debt service. In order to fully support the
detention center COs, the ad valorem tax rate would have to double, which
is not politically feasible.

December 13, 2008 Lubbock On-lineGEO Group Inc. says it has canceled its contract with the city of
Littlefield and plans to terminate 74 employees at the Bill Clayton
Detention Center effective Jan. 5 The Boca Raton-based Fla. company gave
official notice last month, filing a mass layoff Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Act letter with the city in accordance with federal law. The letter
was obtained by The Avalanche-Journal. Under the law, an organization
terminating 50 or more employees must give at least 60 days notice. GEO's
decision was made shortly after it learned its own contract had been
canceled with the Idaho Department of Corrections, which according to the
Times-News in Twin Falls, Idaho, cited prisoner safety concerns. IDOC had
contracted with the for-profit corporation to house 300 of its inmates in
the one-time youth detention facility owned by the city. Some of those inmates,
according to the Times-News, will be transferred to the North Fork
Corrections Facility in Sayer, Okla., which is operated by Corrections
Corp. of America. "We understand the gravity of the situation and the
citizens' concerns, but we are working hard toward a solution," said
Danny Davis, Littlefield city manager, who was informed about GEO's
decision on Nov. 7. He said the city has since hired Woodlands-based
Carlisle & Associates, a municipal consultant, which has been brought
on board to sell the 372-bed prison. Littlefield, which issued revenue
bonds to construct the facility as part of an economic development
strategy, still owes $10 million. However, Davis said, the city had already
set aside a year's worth of bond payments as a precautionary measure when
it made the decision to build. "We have enough to make at least the
next three payments," adding the city should not have to tap those
reserve funds until August. Danny Soliz, director of business services for
WorkForce Solutions South Plains - the area's largest job
placement/training organization - said he met with Littlefield prison
guards during 12 hours of informational sessions Wednesday. "We'll be
doing everything we can to help them," he said. Soliz said many of the
workers told him they have no intention of leaving Littlefield, while
others showed interest in applying for jobs at the new Lubbock County Jail
and the Montford Psychiatric Unit operated by the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice. Soliz said WorkForce brought in an expert from Fort Worth
to assist workers in filing for unemployment benefits. Davis said the city
is working on a number of scenarios involving filling the facility with
inmates from other areas on a temporary basis. "We've also talked with
a number of people who are interested in buying it. There are a lot of
entities out there looking for beds, but it takes time for these solutions
to transpire," he said.

December 9, 2008 YahooFitch Ratings has placed the 'BBB-' rating on Littlefield, TX's (the
city) outstanding $1.4 million combination tax and revenue certificates of
obligation (COs), series 1997 on Rating Watch Negative. The CO's constitute
a general obligation of the city, payable from ad valorem taxes limited to
$2.50 per $100 taxable assessed valuation (TAV). Additionally, the COs are
secured by a pledge of surplus water and sewer revenues. The Negative Watch
reflects recent events related to the operation of the city's detention
center facility, which accounts for the majority of outstanding debt.
Officials are pursuing various alternatives to remedy the situation, with
possible resolution within the next several months. Funds to repay debt
service on detention center COs (which were not rated by Fitch) over the
next one to two years have been identified through available city funds as
well as a debt service reserve fund. However, failure to develop a viable
long-term solution within the near term will have a negative impact on the
rating. Detention center operations support approximately $1.4 million in
outstanding 2000 COs and $9.0 million in outstanding 2001 COs issued for
the construction of the facility. The detention center has a history of
difficulties, beginning with construction delays and the subsequent loss of
Texas Youth Commission (TYC) prisoners in 2003 and State of Wyoming
prisoners in 2006. Detention center operations began to stabilize with the
near immediate replacement of the State of Idaho prisoners in the facility.
The city's contract with Idaho was scheduled to expire in July 2009, with
negotiations for contract renewal planned for January 2009. However, to the
surprise of city officials, Idaho recently announced their plans to leave
the Littlefield facility in January 2009, citing the need to consolidate
all of its out-of-state prisoners into a larger facility in Oklahoma. In
addition, the detention center's private operator, the Geo Group
unexpectedly announced termination of their agreement to manage the
facility effective January 2009. The move to leave Littlefield by the Geo
Group is significant, given that the established private operator had made
sizable equity investments in the detention center reportedly totaling
approximately $2 million. In the past, the ability of the Geo Group to
quickly replace prisoners with little disruption in operations as well as
their investment in the Littlefield detention center were cited as credit
strengths. In response to the sudden loss of both prisoners and operators,
city officials are investigating various options. According to the city, a
number of other jail operators have expressed interest in managing the
Littlefield facility. In addition, officials are considering selling the
facility and retiring the outstanding debt. Officials have expressed the
need to resolve this issue quickly and hope to have additional information
within the next several months. In the interim, officials report that
sufficient funds are on hand to make the Feb. 1 debt service payment, with
the subsequent payments made from other resources, including the water and
sewer fund as well as the debt service reserve fund. Prior to fiscal 2006,
the detention center fund required transfers primarily from the water and
sewer fund to meet operating and debt service needs. Since that time,
detention center net revenues have been sufficient to cover its debt,
providing 1.1 times (x) coverage in fiscal 2007. The water and sewer fund,
which supports the remainder of the city's general obligation debt,
continues to record positive results and for fiscal 2007, net revenues were
$1.4 million, providing more than 3x coverage on water and sewer related CO
debt service. In addition, the series 2000 and 2001 CO sales included
provisions for a fully funded debt service reserve fund. Although the city
utilized the reserve fund to meet debt service requirements in 2001 due to
the delay in opening as well as the moratorium on TYC transfers to the
detention center, officials report that the reserve is currently fully
funded and has not been utilized since 2001 to meet debt service needs. For
fiscal 2007, the restricted reserve stood at $1.1 million compared to
fiscal 2007 debt service of approximately $780,000. Although the detention
COs are also secured by an ad valorem tax pledge, the city levies a
property tax for operations only. Officials report that they are
considering levying a property tax to partially support the detention
center COs. However, in order to fully support the detention center COs,
the tax rate would have to double, which is not feasible given political
realities. Littlefield, with a population of 6,500, is located
approximately 35 miles northwest of Lubbock and serves as the county seat
for Lamb County. The area is primarily rural in nature, with agriculture
services, government, manufacturing, and trade as key components of the county's
economy. The city's population and TAV had been flat until recently; for
fiscal 2008 the city's tax base increased nearly 5% due to the construction
of several commercial projects as well as residential development. While
there is moderate taxpayer concentration among the top 10 taxpayers, there
is generally a good mix of industries within the list. General fund
finances have stabilized over the past several years, benefitting from the
recent imposition of a 0.25% increase in the sales tax rate as well as tax
base growth. Debt ratios are very low given the level of non-property tax
support for outstanding COs although payout is slow. Fitch issued an
exposure draft on July 31, 2008 proposing a recalibration of tax-supported
and water/sewer revenue bond ratings which, if adopted, may result in an
upward revision of this rating (see Fitch research 'Exposure Draft:
Reassessment of the Municipal Ratings Framework'.) At this time, Fitch is
deferring its final determination on municipal recalibration. Fitch will
continue to monitor market and credit conditions, and plans to revisit the
recalibration in first quarter-2009.

November 14, 2008 Magic Valley Times-NewsFamilies of two Idaho inmates who apparently killed themselves in
lockups run by private prison company GEO Group Inc., pleaded Thursday with
Texas state senators to bar out-of-state prisoners from the Lone Star
State. The Idaho Department of Correction has housed more than 300
prisoners at GEO-run Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas,
but recently announced plans to move them to the private North Fork
Correctional Facility in Sayre, Okla. The move follows allegations that GEO
falsified reports and short-staffed the Texas facility where Idaho inmate
Randall McCullough, 37, died. Families of Idaho inmates spoke Thursday at a
Texas state Senate hearing in Austin, Texas. The hearing, which dealt with
general oversight of the Texas prison system and did not result in specific
action, was webcast live over the Internet. Among those testifying was lawyer
Ronald Rodriguez, who represents McCullough's family as well as that of
Idaho inmate Scott Noble Payne, 43, who killed himself last year at another
GEO-run prison in Dickens, Texas. "Idaho prisoners need to be in Idaho
where they have access to their court - Where they have access to their
families," Rodriguez on Thursday told the Texas Senate Committee on
Criminal Justice. Payne's mother, Shirley Noble, spoke to Texas lawmakers
last year and again on Thursday. "It seems that no lessons were
learned," Noble said. "If changes had been placed - Randall would
not have been so desperate to take his own life, as my son did." Texas
Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chairman of the Senate Committee on Criminal
Justice, questioned why the "little" state of Idaho recently
decided to pull its prisoners from Geo-run Bill Clayton. "Should we be
following their lead?" he asked. But a Texas Department of Criminal
Justice official told Whitmire that Texas inmates aren't held at Bill
Clayton, and warned against painting private prisons in Texas with a broad
brush. Inmate McCullough's sister, Laurie Williams, told Texas senators
that they should do a review of all private prisons in their state -
including GEO competitor Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). Idaho prisoners
are to be taken to CCA-run North Fork in Oklahoma, where another Idaho
inmate, David Drashner, was allegedly murdered in June. IDOC's decision to
move prisoners from one privately run lockup to another out-of-state
facility concerns Williams, as well as Drashner's wife, Pam Drashner, who
have said they want Idaho to stop shipping away its inmates. Idaho doesn't
have enough room for all its prisoners, and sending them out-of-state has
been widely unpopular. Williams also wants to talk to Idaho lawmakers, she
said. "We should be addressing the Idaho Senate," said Williams,
after Thursday's hearing in Texas. "This is Idaho sending its inmates
out of state whether it's Texas that takes them or Oklahoma and that's what
we have to have stopped." GEO made $4.9 million in annual operating
revenues off its contract with Idaho to manage prisoners at Bill Clayton.
GEO officials said shareholders won't lose out from Idaho's withdrawal
because of an expanding contract with the state of Indiana.

November 9, 2008 Magic Valley Times-NewsPrivate prison company GEO Group Inc. isn't lamenting the loss of a
multimillion dollar contract with Idaho to manage more than 300 inmates at
a Texas lock-up owned by the city of Littlefield. Idaho was only 1 percent
of Baca Raton-based GEO's business, according to a 2007 annual report from
the company. "The discontinuation of GEO's contract with the Idaho DOC
will have no material impact on GEO's previously issued pro forma earnings
guidance for the fourth quarter of 2008," according to a GEO press
release Friday. GEO made $4.9 million in annual operating revenues off its
contract with Idaho to manage state inmates in Texas, and the company
announced Friday that revenue won't be lost because it's expanding a
contract with the state of Indiana. "GEO expects the discontinuation
of its contract with the Idaho DOC to be more than offset by the 420-bed
contract expansion with the Indiana DOC," according to the press
release. Idaho Department of Correction officials told the Associated Press
Thursday it was pulling out of the contract with GEO and cited inmate
safety risks at the Bill Clayton Detention Center, which is owned by the
city of Littlefield. GEO, however, claims Idaho pulled out of the contract
for a different reason than inmate safety or staffing levels. GEO officials
said Friday that Idaho ended the contract because the state wants to
consolidate all its out-of-state prisoners into one private facility.
"We understand the decision by the state of Idaho to consolidate its
out-of-state inmate population into one large-scale facility," said
GEO Chief Executive Officer George Zoley in the press release. "The
consolidation effort has led to the discontinuation of our out-of-state
inmate contract with the Idaho Department of Correction at the Bill Clayton
Detention Center." IDOC officials told the Times-News Friday that
staffing at Bill Clayton and consolidation efforts were both factors in its
decision to cancel the contract with GEO. IDOC didn't reply to the
Times-News when asked which factor may have weighed more heavily. The
pull-out announced Thursday by IDOC came after a two-month-old audit showed
GEO guards weren't checking on inmates enough. GEO is also terminating its
contract with the city of Littlefield to run Bill Clayton, which it has
operated since 2005, the company announced Friday. GEO decided not to
manage Bill Clayton anymore in Littlefield, a town populated by about 6,500
people, "due to financial underperformance and lack of economies of
scale," according to the Friday press release. The first formal IDOC
audit of Bill Clayton dated Sept. 3 followed an apparent suicide of Idaho
inmate Randall McCullough, 37, of Twin Falls in August. IDOC had been
monitoring the facility at least two weeks out of every month since last
fall, an IDOC official said. IDOC's original two-year contract with GEO
signed in 2006 could have ended on July 20, 2008. IDOC extended it a year
until July 20, 2009, but now says all inmates will be out of Texas by
January and moved to the Northfork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Okla. -
run by GEO competitor, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which
holds hundreds of other out-of-state Idaho inmates.

November 7, 2008 The OlympianIdaho Department of Correction officials still don't know the cause of
death for an inmate who apparently committed suicide in a private Texas
prison in August. But what they do know is disturbing: The prison was so
understaffed that the warden himself was working the midnight shift at the
Bill Clayton Detention Center on Aug. 17, the night Randall McCullough
died. A state investigation found that regularly scheduled checks on
inmates either weren't done or were done incorrectly, and there was no
effective check done on McCullough from the time he turned in his dinner
tray at 5:45 p.m. to the time his body - already cold and stiff - was found
just after midnight. Log books from that night are inaccurate, according to
the investigation, and the videotape from the prison's security system
shows neither the correct date nor the arrival of emergency workers,
prompting Idaho investigators to speculate that it might not be the tape
from that night at all. "You can see where the train wreck is coming,
can't you?" state Department of Correction Chief Investigator Jim
Loucks told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. Department
officials this week announced they're terminating the state's multimillion
dollar contract with The GEO Group, the for-profit private prison company
that runs the Bill Clayton Detention Center. Within 60 days, the roughly
300 Idaho prisoners there will be transferred to the Correction Corp. of
America-run North Fork Correctional Institution in Sayre, Okla. The inmates
have been housed out of state because of overcrowding in Idaho prisons. As
of Oct. 1, Idaho had nearly 7,300 total inmates. The staff at the Bill
Clayton center - from then-warden Arthur Anderson down to the correctional
officers - didn't follow prison policy or respond properly to McCullough's
death, according to documents obtained by The AP from the Idaho Department
of Correction through public records requests. Pablo Paez, spokesman for
The GEO Group, has not returned repeated phone calls from The AP. The GEO
Group Vice President Amber Martin said she couldn't comment on the
documents or Idaho's decision to end the contract. McCullough was found
dead in his cell by Anderson at about 12:15 a.m., according to the state's
investigation. Two letters were found in his cell as well - one to his
sister, Laurie Williams, and another addressed to Anderson and the Idaho
Department of Correction. "To hom it may concern," the
misspelled, handwritten letter read. "I'v been puting this off for
long anuff. I can't set here and slowly die. Sorry for the
inconvenience." The apparent suicide surprised those who knew
McCullough, according to the investigation. The inmate, who was serving
time on a robbery charge, was within a few months of an expected parole
hearing and apparently believed he would be sent back to Idaho sometime
around the end of the year, pending a cell opening in the state's
overcrowded system. McCullough had been in segregation for several months
at the Texas facility after he was accused of assaulting a staff member.
The prison, located in the tiny town of Littlefield, Texas, competes for
employees with nearby oil fields, which often pay more than residents can
make working as a correctional officer, Loucks said. That contributed to
the chronic understaffing. Around the time McCullough died, prison
employees were working as much as 20 hours of overtime every week, and
often resorted to calling in sick just to get some time off, Loucks said.
On the night of Aug. 17, 2008, five people didn't make it in to work -
leaving the prison with just 10 correctional officers for the 6 p.m. to 6
a.m. shift, below the state-mandated minimum of 12, and well below the 15
officers generally scheduled, according to the report. To deal with the
shortage, the shift supervisor persuaded two dayshift employees to stay
until 10 p.m., and got two employees scheduled for the next day to come in
four hours early, at 2 a.m. But that still left the prison short two
officers from 10 p.m. on Aug. 17 to 2 a.m. on Aug. 18, Loucks said. That's
when Warden Anderson and Chief of Security Dennis Blevins agreed to come in
to work those middle-of-the night hours. The short-staffing led to a few
bad habits at the prison, according to the report. Officers often committed
a practice known as "pencil-whipping," filling out the log books
to show they had made security checks on the inmates every 20 minutes, even
if the checks hadn't been done. It also meant that the prison was often
without a utility officer, an employee charged with fueling the vehicles,
emptying the trash and doing other non-guard duties. Because the
segregation unit had fewer inmates than other areas, the correctional
officer guarding the unit was generally pulled away from his duties to take
care of the utility officer chores, Loucks said. That happened the night of
Aug. 17, he said, and as a result no one noticed that McCullough was
unmoving and unresponsive until 12:18 a.m., when Warden Anderson walked by
the cell. Anderson radioed for help when he noticed McCullough wasn't
responding to knocking on the cell door. Medical personnel came within four
minutes, but didn't bring the necessary equipment to treat an unresponsive
patient and so had to go back to another part of the prison to get it,
according to the report. Staffers began CPR, but didn't move McCullough's
body from the bed to the floor, where they would have had a firmer surface
and more effective chest compressions, investigators found. Prison
officials didn't call 911 for 15 minutes, according to the report, but
Anderson reportedly told investigators that was because he was trying to
notify enough other employees so they could safely unlock McCullough's door
and go into the cell. McCullough was dead and apparently had been for some
time - his body was cold to the touch, according to the report. Prison
officials immediately suspected that McCullough might have overdosed on
medication, and his body was sent for toxicology tests and an autopsy.
Those tests have been completed, but the Texas coroner's report has not yet
been finished, so Idaho Department of Correction officials still don't know
just how or why McCullough died. But one thing is clear: Idaho prisoners
will be removed from Bill Clayton. State Correction Department chief Brent
Reinke notes the state prison system is expanding, with roughly 600 more
beds to be added next year. Reinke hopes that will provide enough room to
bring all the out-of-state prisoners home. "It's a real unfortunate
situation - it always is," Reinke said. "But there's no question
that Idaho inmates are much better to manage in Idaho."

November 6, 2008 APThe Idaho Department of Correction has terminated its contract with
private prison company The GEO Group and will move the roughly 305 Idaho
inmates currently housed at a GEO-run facility in Texas to a private prison
in Oklahoma. Correction Director Brent Reinke notified GEO officials Thursday
in a letter. Reinke said the company's chronic understaffing at the Bill
Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas, put Idaho offenders' safety
at risk. An Idaho Department of Correction audit found that guards
routinely falsified reports to show they were checking on offenders
regularly — even though they were sometimes away from their posts for hours
at a time. "I hope you understand how seriously we're taking not only
the report but the safety of our inmates," Reinke told The Associated
Press on Thursday. "They have an ongoing staffing issue that doesn't
appear to be able to be solved." The contract will end Jan. 5. Reinke
said the department wanted to pull the inmates out immediately, but state
attorneys found there wasn't enough cause to allow the state to break free
of the contract without a 60-day warning period. In the meantime, Reinke
said, Idaho correction officials have been sent to the Texas prison to help
with staffing for the next two months. GEO will be responsible for
transferring the inmates to the North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayer,
Okla., which is run by Corrections Corp. of America. GEO will cover the
cost of the move, Reinke said, but Idaho will have to pay $58 per day per
inmate in Oklahoma, compared to $51 per day at Bill Clayton. Amber Martin,
vice president for The GEO Group, of Florida, said she couldn't comment on
the audit or on Idaho's decision to end the contract. She referred calls to
the company spokesman, Pablo Paez, who could not immediately be reached by
the AP. As of Oct. 1, Idaho had nearly 7,300 total inmates. The Bill
Clayton audit describes the latest in a series of problems that Idaho has
had with shipping inmates out of state. Overcrowding at home forced the
state to move hundreds of inmates to a prison in Minnesota in 2005, but
space constraints soon uprooted them again, this time to a GEO-run facility
in Newton, Texas. There, guard abuse and prisoner unrest forced another
move to two new GEO facilities: 125 Idaho inmates went to the Dickens
County Correctional Center in Spur, Texas, while 304 went to Bill Clayton
in Littlefield. Conditions at Dickens were left largely unmonitored by
Idaho, at least until inmate Scott Noble Payne committed suicide after
complaining of the filthy conditions there. Idaho investigators looking
into Payne's death detailed the poor conditions and a lack of inmate
treatment programs, and the inmates were moved again. That's when the Idaho
Department of Correction created the Virtual Prisons Program, designed to
improve oversight of Idaho inmates housed in contract beds both in and out
of state. The extent of the Bill Clayton facility understaffing was
discovered after Idaho launched an investigation into the apparent suicide
of inmate Randall McCullough in August. During that investigation, guards
at the prison said they were often pulled away from their regular posts to
handle other duties — including taking out the garbage, refueling vehicles
or checking the perimeter fence — and that it was common practice to fill
out the logs as if the required checks of inmates were being completed as
scheduled, said Jim Loucks, chief investigator for the Idaho Department of
Correction. For instance, Loucks said, correction officers were supposed to
check on inmates in the administrative segregation unit every 30 minutes.
But sometimes they were away from the unit for hours at a time, he said.
The investigation into McCullough's death is not yet complete, department
officials said. The audit also found several other problems at Bill
Clayton. The auditor found that "the facility entrance is a very
relaxed checkpoint," prompting concerns that cell phones, marijuana
and other contraband could be smuggled past security. In addition, the
prison averages a 30 percent vacancy rate in security staff jobs, according
to the audit. Though it was still able to meet the
one-staffer-for-every-48-prisoners ratio set out by Texas law, employees
were regularly expected to work long hours of overtime and non-security
staffers sometimes were used to provide security supervision, according to
the audit. "Based on a review of payroll reports, there are
significant concerns with security staff working excessive amounts of
overtime for long periods of time," the auditors wrote. "This can
lead to compromised facility security practices and increased safety
issues." When the audit was done, there were 29 security staff
vacancies, according to the report. That meant each security staff person
who was eligible for overtime worked an average of 21 hours of overtime a week.
That extra expense was borne by GEO, not by Idaho taxpayers, said Idaho
Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray. The state's contract with GEO
also required that at least half of the eligible inmates be given jobs with
at least 50 hours of work a month. According to the facility's inmate
payroll report, only 35 out of 371 offenders were without jobs. But closer
inspection showed that the prison often had several inmates assigned to the
same job. In one instance, nine inmates were assigned to clean showers in
one unit of the prison — which only had nine shower stalls. So although
each was responsible for cleaning just one shower stall, the nine inmates
were all claiming 7- and 8-hour work days, five days a week. GEO is
responsible for covering the cost of those wages, Ray said. "While the
contract percentage requirement is met, the facility cannot demonstrate the
actual hours claimed by offenders are spent in a meaningful, skill-learning
job activity," the auditors wrote. Auditors also found that too few
inmates were enrolled in high school diploma equivalency and work force
readiness classes.

October 1, 2008 APFor a decade, Idaho has been shipping some of its prisoners to
out-of-state prisons, dealing with its ever-burgeoning inmate population by
renting beds in faraway facilities. But now some groups of prisoners are
being brought back home. Idaho Department of Correction officials are
crediting declining crime rates, improved oversight during probation,
better community programs and increased communication between correction
officials and the state's parole board. The number of Idaho inmates has
more than doubled since 1996, reaching a high of 7,467 in May. But in the
months since then, the population has declined to 7,293 -- opening up
enough space that 80 inmates housed in the North Fork Correctional Facility
in Sayre, Okla., and at Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield,
Texas, could be bused back to the Idaho State Correctional Institution near
Boise. The inmates arrived Monday night. Idaho Department of Correction
Director Brent Reinke hailed their arrival as one of the benefits the
system was reaping after years of work. "It's more about having the
right inmates at the right place at the right time," Reinke said.
"People are communicating better and we're working together better
than we were in the past."

September 21, 2008 Times-NewsPam Drashner visited her husband every weekend in prison, until she was
turned away one day because he wasn't there. He had been quietly
transferred from Boise to a private prison in Sayre, Okla. She never saw
him again. In July, she went to the Post Office to pick up his ashes,
mailed home in a box. He died of a traumatic brain injury in Oklahoma,
allegedly assaulted by another inmate. David Drashner was one of hundreds
of male inmates Idaho authorities have sent to private prisons in other
states. About 10 percent of Idaho's inmates are now out-of-state. The
Department of Correction say they want to bring them all home, they simply
have no place to put them. Drashner, who was convicted of repeat drunken
driving, is one of three Idaho inmates who have died in the custody of
private lockups in other states since March 2007, and was the first this
year. On Aug. 18, Twin Falls native Randall McCullough, 37, apparently killed
himself at the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas.
McCullough, serving time for robbery, was found dead in his cell. IDOC
officials say he left a note, though autopsy results are pending. His
family says he shouldn't have been in Texas at all. "Idaho should step
up to the plate and bring their prisoners home," said his sister,
Laurie Williams. Out of Idaho -- Idaho has so many prisoners scattered
around the country that the IDOC last year developed the Virtual Prison
Program, assigning 12 officers to monitor the distant prisons. In 2007
Idaho sent 429 inmates to Texas and Oklahoma. This year; more than 700 -
and by one estimate it could soon hit 1,000. But officials say they don't
know exactly how many inmates may hit the road in coming months. The number
may actually fall due to an unexpected drop in total prisoner head-count, a
turnabout attributed to a drop in sentencings, increased paroles and better
success rates for probationers. The state will also have about 1,300 more
beds in Idaho, thanks to additions at existing prisons. State officials say
bringing inmates back is a priority. "If there was any way to not have
inmates out-of-state it would be far, far better," said IDOC Director
Brent Reinke, a former Twin Falls County commissioner, noting higher costs
to the state and inconvenience to inmate families. Still, there's no end in
sight for virtual prisons, which have few fans in state government. "I
do think sending inmates out-of-state is counter-productive," said
Rep. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, a member of the House Judiciary, Rules and
Administration Committee. LeFavour favors treatment facilities over
prisons. "We try to make it (sending inmates out-of-state) a last
resort, but I don't think we're doing enough." Even lawmakers who
favor buying more cells would like to avoid virtual lockups. "It's
more productive to be in-state," said Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo,
chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee, who said he would
support a new Idaho prison modeled after the state-owned but privately run
Idaho Correctional Center (ICC). "We don't want to stay out-of-state
unless we have to ��- It's
undesirable." A decade of movement -- Idaho has shipped inmates elsewhere
for more than a decade, though in some years they were all brought home
when beds became available at four of Idaho's state prisons. The 1,500-bed
ICC - a state-owned lockup built and run by CCA (Corrections Corporation of
America) - also opened in 2000. But that wasn't enough: "It will be
years before a substantial increase in prison capacity will allow IDOC to
bring inmates back," the agency said in April. In 2005, former IDOC
director Tom Beauclair warned lawmakers that "if we delay building the
next prison, we'll have to remain out-of-state longer with more
inmates," according to an IDOC press release. That year inmates were
taken to a Minnesota prison operated by CCA, where Idaho paid $5 per
inmate, per day more than it costs to keep inmates in its own prisons.
"This move creates burdens for our state fiscally, and can harden our
prison system, but it's what we must do," IDOC said at the time.
"Our ability to stretch the system is over." Attempts to add to
that system have largely failed. Earlier this year Gov. C.L.
"Butch" Otter asked lawmakers for $191 million in bond authority
to buy a new 1,500-bed lockup. The Legislature rejected his request, but
did approve those 1,300 new beds at existing facilities. Reinke said IDOC
won't ask for a new prison when the next Legislative session convenes in
January. With a slow economy and a drop in inmate numbers, it's not the
time to push for a new prison, he said. Still, recent projections for IDOC
show that without more prison beds here, 43 percent of all Idaho inmates
could be sent out-of-state in 2017. "It's a lot of money to go
out-of-state," Darrington said. Different cultures -- One of eight
prisons in Idaho is run by a private company, as are those housing Idaho
inmates in Texas and Oklahoma. The Bill Clayton Detention Center in Texas
is operated by the Geo Group Inc., which is managing or developing 64
lockups in the U.S., Australia and South Africa. The North-Fork
Correctional Facility in Oklahoma is owned and operated by CCA, which also
has the contract to run the Idaho Correction Center. CCA houses almost
75,000 inmates and detainees in 66 facilities under various state and
federal contracts. Critics of private prisons say the operators boost
profits by skimping on programs, staff, and services. Idaho authorities
acknowledge the prisons make money, but consider them well-run.
"Private prisons are just that - business run," Idaho Virtual
Prison Program Warden Randy Blades told the Times-News. "It doesn't
mean out-of-sight, or out-of-mind." Yet even Reinke added that "I
think there's a difference. Do we want there to be? No." The
Association of Private Correctional and Treatment Organizations (APCTO)
says on its Web site that its members "deliver reduced costs, high
quality, and enhanced accountability." Falling short? Thomas Aragon, a
convicted thief from Nampa, was shipped to three different Texas prisons in
two years. He said prisons there did little to rehabilitate him, though
he's up for parole next year. "I'm a five-time felon, all grand theft
and possession of stolen property," said Aragon, by telephone from the
ICC. "Apparently I have a problem and need to find out why I steal.
The judge said I needed counseling and that I'd get it, and I have yet to
get any." State officials said virtual prisons have a different
culture, but are adapting to Idaho standards. "We're taking the
footprint of Idaho and putting it into facilities out-of-state,"
Blades said. Aragon, 39, says more programs are available in Idaho compared
to the Texas facilities where he was. Like Aragon, almost 70 percent of
Idaho inmates sent to prison in 2006 and 2007 were recidivists - repeat
IDOC offenders - according agency annual reports. GEO and CCA referred
questions about recidivism to APCTO, which says only that its members reduce
the rate of growth of public spending. Aragon said there weren't enough
case-workers, teachers, programs, recreational activities and jobs in
Texas. Comparisons between public and private prisons are made difficult
because private companies didn't readily offer numbers for profits,
recidivism, salaries and inmate-officer ratios. During recent visits to the
Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas - where about 371 Idaho
inmates are now held - state inspectors found there wasn't a legal aid staffer
to give inmates access to courts, as required by the state contract.
Virtual Prison monitors also agreed with Aragon's assessment: "No
programs are offered at the facility," a state official wrote in a
recently redacted Idaho Virtual Prison report obtained by the Times-News.
"Most jobs have to do with keeping the facility clean and appear to be
less meaningful. This creates a shortage of productive time with the
inmates. "Overall, recreational activities are very sparse within the
facility ��- Informal
attempts have been made to encourage the facility to increase offender
activities that would in the long run ease some of the boredom that IDOC
inmates are experiencing," according to a Virtual Prison report. The
prison has since made improvements, the state said. Only one inmate case
manager worked at Bill Clayton during a recent state visit, but the
facility did increase recreation time and implemented in-cell hobby craft
programs, Virtual Prison reports show. Other inmate complaints have grown
from the way they have been sent to the prisons. Inmates describe a
horrific bus ride from Idaho to Oklahoma in April in complaints collected
by the American Civil Liberties Union in Boise. The inmates say they
endured painful and injurious wrist and ankle shackling, dangerous driving,
infrequent access to an unsanitary restroom and dehydration during the
almost 30-hour trip. "We're still receiving a lot of complaints, some
of them are based on retaliatory transfers," said ACLU lawyer Lea
Cooper. IDOC officials acknowledge that they have also received complaints
about access to restrooms during the long bus rides, but they maintain that
most of the inmates want to go out-of-state. Many are sex offenders who
prefer the anonymity associated with being out-of-state, they said.
Unanswered questions -- Three deaths of Idaho interstate inmates in 18
months have left families concerned that even more prisoners will come home
in ashes. "We're very disturbed about...the rate of Idaho prisoner
deaths for out-of-state inmates," Cooper said. It was the razor-blade
suicide of sex-offender Scott Noble Payne, 43, in March 2007 at a Geo
lockup in Dickens, Texas that caught the attention of state officials.
Noble's death prompted Idaho to pull all its inmates from the Geo prison.
State officials found the facility was in terrible condition, but they
continue to work with Geo, which houses 371 Idaho inmates in Littlefield,
Texas, where McCullough apparently killed himself. Noble allegedly escaped
before he was caught and killed himself. Inmate Aragon said he as there,
and that Noble was hog-tied and groaned in pain while guards warned other
inmates they would face the same if they tried to escape. Private prison
operators don't have to tell governments everything about the deaths at facilities
they run. The state isn't allowed access to Geo's mortality and morbidity
reports under terms of a contract. Idaho sent additional inmates to the
Corrections Corporation of America-run Oklahoma prison after Drashner's
husband died in June. IDOC officials said an Idaho official was inspecting
the facility when he was found. IDOC has offered few details about the
death. "The murder happened in Oklahoma," said IDOC spokesman
Jeff Ray, adding it will be up to Oklahoma authorities to charge. Drashner
said her husband had a pending civil case in Idaho and shouldn't have been
shipped out-of-state. She says Idaho and Oklahoma authorities told her
David was assaulted by another inmate after he verbally defended an officer
at the Oklahoma prison. Officers realized something was wrong when he
didn't stand up for a count, Drashner said. "He was healthy. He
wouldn't have been killed over here," she said.

August 28, 2008 Times-News
An Idaho prison inmate held at a private facility in Texas through the
state's Virtual Prison Program was in solitary confinement for more than a
year when he apparently killed himself, authorities have confirmed. Idaho
Department of Correction is still investigating the cause and manner of
death for the inmate, Randall McCullough, 37, who was found unresponsive
Aug. 18 in his cell, which measured 7.5 feet, by 12 feet, by 8 feet, said
Idaho Department of Correction Spokesman Jeff Ray. McCullough had been
segregated from other inmates since Dec. 13, 2007, after he allegedly
assaulted a staff member at the Bill Clayton Detention Center run by Geo
Group Inc., said Ray. He apparently wasn't criminally charged for that
alleged assault in Texas. "It's our understanding that the prosecutor
in Texas had not made a decision on whether or not to file charges,"
said Ray. "The staff assault occurred in Texas and would be considered
a Texas crime. IDOC would not have a direct connection to it."
Authorities at Geo Group's Bill Clayton Detention Center directed all
questions from the Times-News on Wednesday back to the Idaho Department of
Corrections. McCullough was in prison for a 2001 Twin Falls County robbery
conviction. He had a criminal record involving charges of escape, forgery,
controlled substance possession, grand theft, burglary, resisting arrest,
and driving violations, according to court records. Imposing inmate
segregation for one to two years as a result of an assault on a guard would
not be uncommon, and wardens at out-of-state facilities holding Idaho
inmates can decide if an inmate is put in segregation, said Ray. Inmates in
segregation eat meals in their cells and can shower once every 72 hours.
Toilets are in cells and McCullough had a television, said Ray. Lights at
the Texas facility are on 24 hours a day, Ray said, adding that some facilities
in Idaho dim lights at sleeping times.

August 21, 2008 The Times NewsThe state's Virtual Prison Program is only a year old and the Monday
death of inmate Randall McCullough, 37, could be the second suicide
involving the initiative outside of Idaho. Idaho prison officials said
Wednesday they're still investigating if McCullough committed suicide at a
private contracted facility in Texas - Bill Clayton Detention Center run by
the GEO Group Inc. - which is holding 371 inmates each at $51 per day under
a contract that expires in July 2009. The Virtual Prison Program started in
July 2007, but the state started putting inmates in non-state owned
facilities in October 2005, said Idaho Department of Correction Spokesman
Jeff Ray. Six state inmates have committed suicide since July 2006, not
including McCullough, Ray said.

December 11, 2007 AP
Inmates from Idaho housed at a private West Texas detention facility could
face new charges following an attack on a female guard. The woman was
attacked about 7:30 p.m. Monday after she apparently tried to take tobacco
away from at least two of the inmates at the Bill Clayton Detention Center,
Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray said. The woman suffered
non-life threatening injuries, he said. Afterward, as many as 15 inmates
refused to return to their cells and additional officers were called in to
help, Ray said. The inmates then agreed to return to their cells, he said.
Officials with the Littlefield police department, which is investigating
the incident, did not immediately return a phone call Tuesday. A deputy
warden with the Idaho agency is on his way to Littlefield to investigate, a
release from that department said. Those involved in the attack could face
charges, and inmates who refused to return to their cells will likely face
disciplinary sanctions, the release said. The prison is operated by The GEO
Group Inc., a Boca Raton, Fla.-based company that owns or operates 68
facilities worldwide. "We will be working cooperatively with the Idaho
Department of Correction as they conduct their investigation," said
Pablo Paez, a GEO spokesman. A lack of space in Idaho prisons brought
hundreds of inmates to Texas in early 2006. They were first housed here at
a GEO facility in Newton in East Texas. They were moved to Littlefield in
August 2006 after allegations of abuse by guards prompted an investigation.
Three employees at Newton's facility were disciplined as a result of the
investigation.

July 31, 2007 Idaho Statesman
Idaho's Department of Correction has created a new position to manage
Idaho's roughly 2,400 inmates in private, out-of-state prisons and county
jail beds. Randy Blades, who has been the warden at the Idaho State
Correctional Institution south of Boise, will monitor the 500-plus inmates,
now in three Texas prisons managed by the Geo Group Inc. of Boca Raton,
Fla. He will also monitor the 240 inmates soon to be transferred from Idaho
to a private prison in Oklahoma, and the inmates in county jail beds across
the state. Correction Director Brent Reinke created the position after
disclosing that conditions at one of those prisons were so bad that inmates
will be moved elsewhere. Inmates at the Dickens County Correctional Center
are being moved to the Bill Clayton Detention Center after an inmate suicide
at Dickens revealed filthy living conditions and poorly trained and
unprofessional staff. “Times have changed and we simply need to get in
front on this issue,” Reinke said in a statement. “We must be proactive. We
need to make sure inmates are being treated adequately and taxpayers are
getting what they are paying for.”

October 24, 2006 Yahoo.comFitch downgrades the rating on Littlefield, TX's (the city) outstanding
$1.6 million combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation (COs),
series 1997 to 'BB+' from 'BBB+.' The Rating Outlook is Stable. The
downgrade primarily reflects the city's significantly weakened financial
position. The general fund balance has been at minimal levels for the past
several years, while the detention center fund, which supports the bulk of
the city's general obligation debt, is in a deficit unrestricted net asset
position, created by the pull-out of Texas Youth Commission (TYC) prisoners
in 2003. Some signs of financial improvement are evident, and projected
fiscal 2006 results are expected to show a moderate increase in general
fund reserve levels as well as a small operating surplus in the detention
center fund. Further, the detention center is now fully occupied.
Nevertheless, financial stabilization has not been achieved, and the city
remains highly dependent on housing outside prisoners to meet operational
and debt service requirements of the detention center. Detention center
operations, which experienced problems at the onset primarily due to
construction delays, were again negatively impacted by the loss of all TYC
prisoners in 2003. While TYC offenders were subsequently replaced with
state of Wyoming prisoners, the impact on finances was severe and continued
through fiscal 2005, evidenced by a $351,000 unrestricted net asset deficit
recorded in the detention center fund. In addition, the detention center
fund had to rely on support from other funds, most notably a sizable
transfer from the water and sewer fund in fiscal 2004, to meet operational
and debt service needs. The contract to house Wyoming prisoners was
terminated in 2006, and subsequently a new contract with the state of Idaho
was implemented. For 2006, officials report that no outside financial
support was required and that a $30,000 operating surplus is expected.
However, the large deficit will likely remain for sometime and the
historical movement of prisoners in and out of the Littlefield facility
demonstrates the difficulty of maintaining long-term prisoner contracts. If
the city had to levy an interest and sinking fund tax to meet detention
center related debt obligations, officials estimate that the overall tax
rate would have to double over the current operations and maintenance tax
rate, which Fitch believes would be extremely difficult to impose.

Sep 28,
2018 pnj.comAuthorities investigating inmate death at Blackwater River CorrectionalAuthorities are investigating an inmate death at Blackwater River
Correctional Institution. Inmate Kenneth Davis died at the private prison
Saturday, though Blackwater CI officials were not available for comment
Monday afternoon. Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesman Jeremy
Burns confirmed the agency is involved in the investigation but could not
comment further, citing the active nature of the case. Florida Department
of Corrections records show Davis, 33, was serving 25 years for attempted
first-degree murder in Walton County.

Jan 12, 2018 nwfdailynews.comCorrections officer stabbed at private prisonMILTON — A corrections officer at Blackwater River Correctional
Facility was stabbed by an inmate Tuesday morning. “She’s going to be
fine,” said state Sen. Doug Broxson, whose district houses the prison. The
assault occurred at 8:40 a.m. during a “routine post assignment,” according
to a statement released Thursday by The Geo Group, the private organization
that runs the Blackwater River prison east of Milton. “The officer received
immediate medical attention and was transported to an area medical
facility. The incident was referred to law enforcement and remains under
ongoing investigation,” the release said. Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob
Johnson said his agency had not been contacted to investigate the stabbing.
Dexter McWhite, 56, who is serving a life sentence for aggravated assault,
robbery and armed robbery, attacked the officer, according to The GEO
Group. The GEO Group did not release the identity of the victim, whose
injury was not life-threatening. The prison has been on lockdown since
Tuesday, an inmate’s family member said. It remained locked down Thursday
evening, according to the prison staff. Questions about the stabbing were
deflected by the Florida Department of Corrections to the state Department
of Management Services. The DOC said Managment Services has oversight of
private prisons. In a late afternoon email, a Management Services
spokeswoman said The GEO Group would respond to all questions about the
stabbing. Blackwater River administrators also directed questions to The
GEO Group. Broxson finally stepped in late in the day to break the
gridlock. He said he had communicated to officials at the state agencies
and Blackwater the need for future transparency. “I encouraged the
departments to be more open in the process,” he said.
December 1, 2011 The Daily News
Santa Rosa County Commissioner Bob Cole said Thursday that FBI agents had
asked him Wednesday about a private land sale in 2009 and the county’s sale
of land to build the Blackwater River Correctional Facility in Milton. “It
was all the same things over again,” Cole said during a brief telephone
conversation about the search of his home and business. “They threw so much
out there I didn’t know what they were focused on.” FBI and IRS agents
searched Cole’s home in East Milton and his Pensacola business, Bob Cole’s
Automotive. No arrests were made and the agents declined to say what they
were seeking. Cole, who has been a commissioner since 2002, has maintained
his innocence of any wrongdoing. Although his County Commission offices
were not searched Wednesday, Cole focused his comments on his actions as an
elected official. “No vote was bought and I did not better myself because of
a vote,” he said Wednesday. “I am comfortable in my votes of the past on
issues and no one twisted my arm. Everything I have done is on the record
and I feel good to go.” Cole confirmed Thursday that agents asked
specifically about his sale of land to a business known as Beannacht
Properties LLC. On April 17, 2009, Cole sold 9 percent of a five-acre
parcel on Welcome Church Road to Beannacht Properties for about $50,000.
Beannacht Properties is managed by Nina Roche Cobb and her husband, Donald
Cobb. Nina Roche Cobb is the daughter of John and Deborah Roche, Gulf
Breeze residents who own Lifeguard Ambulance Service, which holds a
contract with Santa Rosa County to provide emergency services. A federal
warrant was issued in August for documents pertaining to several Santa Rosa
County land transactions and material related to discussions regarding the
county’s Lifeguard Ambulance contract. It is not clear whether the records
request in August and Wednesday’s search of Cole’s home and business are
related. Calls to Beannacht Properties have not been returned. Cole also
acknowledged Thursday that the FBI has also asked him about the county’s
$2.65 million sale of land to a south Florida company known as the GEO
Group. The GEO Group bought the property so that it could build a $120
million private prison in Milton.

September 25, 2011 Pensacola News Journal
Two Santa Rosa County officials are due at Pensacola's federal courthouse
on Tuesday — with volumes of records — to answer four federal subpoenas
served in August. Cindy Anderson, executive director of the TEAM Santa Rosa
Economic Development Council, and Santa Rosa County Attorney Angela Jones
will present thousands of pages of documents as well as numerous digital
files to the federal grand jury. TEAM and the county each received two
subpoenas in August demanding records involving contracts, developments,
land purchases, travel and other interactions among TEAM, the county and
numerous private parties. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office won't say
why they want the information. The subpoenas sought information about a
wide range of topics: » Santa Rosa County's purchase of an industrial park
from Navarre developer Bill Pullum in 2009. » Any County Commission or TEAM
staff member's travel to Pullum's private island in Honduras. » Any County
Commission or TEAM staff member's travel to Washington, D.C. » Any county
business with Pullum, developer Garrett Walton, architect and former state
Sen. Charlie Clary, and Okaloosa County businessman William McElvy. » The
sale of any property between the county and James "Jim" Young
and/or KWY Investments, the company that sold the property where the
private Blackwater River Correctional Institute came to be built in East
Milton. » The county's ambulance service contract. Subpoenas issued to
other offices center around how Blackwater River Correctional Institute
came to be built by the Boca Raton-based GEO Group and the nature of former
state Rep. Ray Sansom's relationship to the project.

September 1, 2011 Gulf Breeze NewsA Grand Jury will meet in Pensacola on Sept. 27 to start reviewing
numerous boxes of documents from Santa Rosa County’s economic development
deals dating back to 2002. Subpoenas from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation were served on the County Commissioners and on the county’s
economic development arm, TEAM Santa Rosa, last Tuesday, Aug. 23.
Commission chairman Lane Lynchard and TEAM Santa Rosa Director Cindy
Anderson each said they are looking at this as an opportunity to clear the
record – and the air – on these projects once and for all. “Anytime you
receive a federal subpoena of any kind, it puts the county in a negative
light. There is no doubt about that,” said Lynchard, an attorney from Gulf
Breeze. “But it is my understanding this is the first federal subpoena of
any kind that has been received by Santa Rosa County, and I really look at
this as an opportunity to set the record straight on any questions
concerning our economic development dealings. “The records they wanted go
back as far as 2002 from the County Commission. I know there were a lot of
questions surrounding the purchase of the property in 2009 for the
industrial park off Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 90. Maybe this can out
those questions to rest once and for all.” Anderson said most of the records
subpoenaed already have been looked at and found to have no problems by the
State Attorney’s Office as well as the Ethics Committee. “This really all
started back when the ID Group of Gulf Breeze got funding from some grants
back in 2004,” Anderson said. “There has been a group of individuals who
have had questions on several projects since then, and I really hope this
latest review of all those records can put all the questions to rest. “The
investigation in March when records were subpoenaed was concerning only the
private GEO prison project. Now this latest request has to do with any and
all of our records going all the way back to at least 2004. That is boxes
and boxes of records.” The owner of the ID Group was a former member of the
TEAM Santa Rosa Board, and when TEAM received a $170,000 Defense grant, the
TEAM board hired the ID Group to do the work required by the grant. Former
State Rep. Ray Sansom was tied to the GEO group from Boca Raton that built
the private Blackwater River Correctional Institute in East Milton last
year. Questions have centered on Sansom’s involvement with the GEO group in
Boca Raton since 2008, when the group purchased the property for the Milton
prison. Subpoenas in March requested any and all records concerning that prison
project.

August 24, 2011 Pensacola News-Journal
A federal grand jury in Pensacola is investigating the building and funding
of a privately owned correctional facility that opened last year in East
Milton, including the role of former state Rep. Ray Sansom. On Tuesday, the
FBI seized a computer used by Santa Rosa County Commissioner Jim Melvin and
his predecessor, Gordon Goodin. Melvin, who took office last year, said FBI
agents told him the investigation was not focused on him but did not
disclose what they were interested in. Goodin, who served for eight years,
said he was confident the investigation didn't involve him. During the past
five months, the grand jury, working with the FBI, has issued three other
subpoenas. The first subpoena on March 29 requested that TEAM Santa Rosa,
the county's economic development agency, deliver all records pertaining to
Project Justice, the code name for the ultimately successful effort to
bring a private prison operated by the Boca Raton-based Geo Group to the
county. The Blackwater River Correctional Institute, owned by Geo under a
contract with the state, opened last year. It is designed for 2,200
high-security prisoners. The March subpoena ordered Team Santa Rosa to
produce all records related to "the projection, planning, design,
funding, appropriation, construction and/or operation of any privately
owned correctional facility located in Santa Rosa County." The second
subpoena to Florida's Office of Legislative Services, dated May 27,
requested travel vouchers since January 2004 for Sansom and several of his
aides. The third subpoena, with the same date, was addressed to former
Sansom aide Samantha Sullivan of Mary Esther. It ordered records
"pertaining to any function performed as a legislative aide to state
Rep. Ray Sansom" since Jan. 1, 2002. On March 27, 2008, Sansom
traveled to Boca Raton on what he described in a travel voucher as
"personal business after Session 2008." On April 4, Sansom
inserted a provision into the 2008-09 general appropriation bill for $110
million for an addition to the Graceville Correctional Institute, owned by
Geo, in Jackson County. That appropriation was removed. Then, on April 8,
Sansom substituted an appropriation of $110 million into the 2008-09 state
budget for a private prison to be built anywhere in the state, with no
reference to Graceville. That money went to the East Milton facility, which
ended up costing $140 million. In February 2010, Sansom, while serving as
speaker of the House, resigned amid criminal allegations that he inserted a
$6 million appropriation into the state budget for construction of an
aircraft hangar in Destin for a prominent Florida Republican Party
contributor, Jay Odom. The state dropped its case against Sansom in March
after a Tallahassee judge blocked key prosecution testimony. Santa Rosa
officials reached Tuesday said they didn't know the reason for the seizure
of the commission computer. Commissioner Lane Lynchard said he learned of
the seizure from Santa Rosa County Attorney Angela Jones but didn't know
what the FBI's interest was. He said the county was served with two federal
grand jury subpoenas, but he didn't know what the other one involved. Jones
was not in her office Tuesday afternoon, and county spokeswoman Joy
Tsubooka said copies of the subpoenas would not be available until today.
Melvin said the federal agents appeared in his office with two subpoenas at
about 10 a.m. "They explained that they had no problems with me, but
that they needed records from the computer in my office," Melvin said.
"They wanted to know whether I would demand a court order. I told them
I was not the custodian of those records. They met with the county
attorney, and then came and removed the computer from my office."
Melvin said he did not know the nature of the records sought. Goodin, who
was recently cleared of an ethics complaint involving a 2005 trip he and
his wife took to Central America, said he had "no idea" what
interest the FBI would have in the computer. "I'm not worried about
any more investigations," he said. "They can investigate whatever
they want." A message left at the FBI office in Pensacola was not
returned Tuesday.

June 17, 2011 WEAR TV
"This is the $120 million Blackwater River Correctional Facility. It's
been a pretty quiet addition to East Santa Rosa County, bringing hundreds
of new jobs here. But... the Federal Government is continuing wide-scale
investigation into what led to the construction of this prison." The
project has been under fire ever since it became public knowledge. The GEO
Group... The company that now runs the prison... Has documented ties to
several state lawmakers who help approve the 120 million dollar project.
Jerry Couey is one of many people around the state that's been closely
following the development of this prison for years. "Any citizen or
private business owner would love to have the same deal. I don't understand
how they got the deal and I've become very curious about how that
occurred." Jerry is not alone. The FBI obtained this subpoena in
federal court back at the end of march. In it... The US District Court for
the Northern District of Florida demands team Santa Rosa turn over all it's
paperwork related to the GEO group and the state lawmakers who backed the
privatized prison project in the legislature. , "I wish them well in
their search. I think they're on to something that certainly needs to be
looked at, in a time in the state of Florida where dollars are so precious,
how did this happen." "It would make sense for them to come to
us, because they know we have to keep track of all of this and it would be
packaged all together all in one place." "The FBI is very good at
what they do, and I don't know what's going to come of it. My gut gives me
concern about how it occurred."

August 16, 2010 Sunshine State News
Former Rep. Loranne Ausley, the Democratic nominee to be the next state
CFO, attacked a program backed by her Republican rival, Senate President
Jeff Atwater of North Palm Beach, that slashed 71 prison work squads, which
she insisted saved Florida taxpayers more than $35 million, and created a
new private prison. Labeling the Blackwater River Correctional Institution
the “prison to nowhere,” Ausley noted that the project had already cost the
state more than $110 million and that Atwater was ignoring recommendations
made by the Florida Department of Corrections. She also compared the
project to a new courthouse in Tallahassee which she labeled the
“Tallahassee Taj Mahal.” “Senate President Jeff Atwater’s ‘prison to
nowhere’ is yet another product of the broken system in Tallahassee, and
once again Florida taxpayers are stuck with the bill,” said Ausley.
“Floridians are fed up with politicians who play by their own rules with
our money. Whether it’s the ‘Tallahassee Taj Mahal,’ the ‘Prison to
Nowhere’ or an airport hanger for a political contributor, politicians in
Tallahassee need to be held accountable.”

August 10, 2010 WCTV
Prison work squads are as old prisons themselves. But the state has slashed
the number of work squads since the new budget took effect in July. Motorist
Toby Edwards doesn’t think that’s good for roadways or the prisoners. “They
eat good and the state takes care of them but that’s coming from the
taxpayers,” Edwards said. “So they should be the ones out there picking up
the trash.” Another motorist, Steve Bedosky thinks the work should be
contracted to private companies. “I’ve never really been in favor of taking
those jobs away from the private sector and putting prisoners out there at
a lower price,” Bedosky said. But local governments don’t have the
resources, which means the work will often go undone. 71 crews like this
one are being cut. That’s going to mean taller grass, more trash on the
road, and costs being shifted. The Department of Corrections was forced by
lawmakers to spend 24 million dollars opening a private prison orchestrated
by disgraced former speaker Ray Sansom. The private prison took money from
the work squads, even though new projections show the 2200 private prison
beds weren’t needed. The union representing correctional officers
understands the need to keep staffing up inside prison fences, but it
objects to the work squad cuts on moral grounds. “It’s just sad that the
public has to pay for the legislature’s irresponsibility,” Al Shopp with
the Police Benevolent Association said. But unless funding improves,
prisoners will be spending more time behind bars and less time cleaning up
roadsides. The state is cutting 71 of 180 work squads across the state.

June 8, 2010 St Petersburg Times
On the heels of its endorsement of Alex Sink for governor, the Police
Benevolent Association has now announced it will support Loranne Ausley in
her bid to be chief financial officer. Sink's endorsement was news because
the PBA hadn't endorsed a Democrat for governor since Lawton Chiles' first
run in 1990. Now, with its endorsement of an underfunded Ausley over Senate
President Jeff Atwater, the group seems to have gotten religion on
Democrats. Unsure about why the group is making the shift, but it could
have something to do with the opening of a new private prison in North
Florida and lingering unease over potential cuts to prison workers'
pensions. Matt Puckett, the deputy executive director for the PBA, says the
group likes people "that wanted to take care of law enforcement
officers and public employees." He also noted that "it didn't
help matters" that the new private prison opened up on Atwater's
watch.

May 28, 2010 St Petersburg Times
Gov. Charlie Crist often laments "this culture of corruption in South
Florida," but increasingly it's Tallahassee that looks like a central
focus of multiple criminal investigations swirling about Florida. In recent
weeks, prominent legislators have hired criminal defense lawyers, while
high-ranking and low-ranking GOP staffers have been summoned to grand
juries meeting across the state. Among them: Crist's former top
money-raiser, Meredith O'Rourke; former state GOP executive director Jim
Rimes; and indicted ex-House Speaker Ray Sansom's former fundraising aide,
Melanie Phister, who at age 25 charged nearly $1.3 million on her state
party credit card. Veteran observers of the state's political process can't
remember a time when so many officials have been caught up in criminal
investigations. "I don't think we've ever had it at this level,'' said
longtime lobbyist Ron Book. Amid the most tumultuous and unpredictable
election year Florida has seen in decades, the names of at least a dozen
political figures have popped up in five major federal investigations
probing the pay-to-play culture of corruption in Florida: • Alan
Mendelsohn, 52, a Fort Lauderdale eye doctor and GOP campaign fundraiser,
is indicted on federal fraud and influence peddling charges. • Scott
Rothstein, 47, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer and campaign donor at the center of
a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme, pled guilty in January to multiple federal
charges of racketeering, money laundering, fraud. • Sansom, 47, charged
with grand theft in state court for secretly putting $6 million in the
budget, is being looked at by federal officials in North Florida for his use
of a GOP credit card and his role in creating a $113 million private
prison.

May 4, 2010 Tallahassee Democrat
An influential state senator who is running for governor called for an
explanation Tuesday of how the Blackwater River prison privatization project
was handled in the state budget. Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, wrote to
the Department of Corrections and Department of Management Services
regarding the Santa Rosa County prison. She said the Legislature
appropriated $87 million for it as a 2,000-bed privately operated prison in
2008, intending that it house medium- to close-security inmates. In the
closing days of the session that adjourned last week, the budget adopted by
the House and Senate added 224 prisoners to the institution's capacity -- potentially
worth $2 million a year, or more, for GEO Group, the company negotiating
with DMS to run the prison. The appropriation was also changed to specify
that the prison will "primarily house special-needs inmates,"
such as those with mental or physical health problems, and that it would be
in Santa Rosa County, she said. Dockery, who chairs the Senate criminal
justice committee, asked DOC and DMS if either department had requested the
appropriation. She also asked for a summary of responses from companies
competing for the state's business, what other locations were considered
for the institution and why it was designated for "inmates who require
chronic medical and mental health treatment." "She's asking all
the right questions," said Ken Kopczynski, a lobbyist for the Police
Benevolent Association, which represents security officers in state-run
prisons. The PBA opposes prison privatization, which has been a highly
controversial endeavor at six corporate-run prisons in Florida. Spokeswomen
for DMS and DOC said the agencies are gathering information to respond to
Dockery later this week or next week.

May 4, 2010 St Petersburg TimesSen. Paula Dockery, a Lakeland Republican running for governor, has
written DOC Secretary Walt McNeil and DMS Secretary Linda South to find out
more about the private prison Blackwater deal (more here on the
background). The letter is here: Dear Secretary McNeil and Secretary South:
As chair of the Florida Senate’s Committee on Criminal Justice, I am
interested in the background of the Blackwater River Correctional Facility
(Blackwater) in Santa Rosa County. I am aware that an appropriation of
approximately $87,000,000 was made in 2008 to contract for a 2,000 bed
private correctional facility to house medium and close custody inmates.
The appropriation did not specify a location for the facility or that the
facility would primarily house special needs inmates. I request
clarification about the history of the facility, including, but not limited
to, the following issues: • Whether the appropriation was requested by
either the Department of Corrections or the Department of Management
Services and, if so, the basis for the request. • A summary of the
responses to ITN #DMS 08/09-026 (including vendor, proposed location,
proposed cost, and any distinguishing features of the proposal). • The
origin of consideration of Santa Rosa County as a location for the facility
and identification of other sites that were considered. • The origin of the
decision that the majority of the inmates in the facility would be special
needs inmates who require chronic medical and mental health treatment, and
whether that decision affected the costs of construction. I would
appreciate a timely response to this request. It is not intended to be
burdensome and you should contact me or my staff if there are difficulties
with responding in a timely fashion. Warm regards, Sen. Paula Dockery

April 25, 2010 Tampa Tribune
House and Senate budget chiefs agreed Saturday to open a private prison and
pour $61 million into the University of South Florida's Lakeland campus,
but remained at odds over a variety of cuts and competing proposals. The
Legislature, in its 2008 budget, approved the construction of the private
Blackwater River Correctional Institution, responding to predictions that
the state's prison population would jump more sharply than it has. The
state-of-the-art facility now stands empty. Saturday, the House agreed to
Senate budget chief JD Alexander's plan to cut state prison beds and eliminate
more than 300 positions, mostly vacant, in the state Department of
Corrections to fill 2,224 Blackwater prison beds. That's 224 more beds than
the facility was designed to hold, raising concerns about crowding.
Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said the state can avoid that problem by
"double-bunking" dormitory space. Ken Kopczynski, political
affairs assistant for the Florida Police Benevolent Association, questioned
whether it is ethical to turn incarceration of prisoners into a
profit-making industry. With 4,000 beds or more available in the state's
public prisons, Kopczynski said, there's no reason to open a private one.
Alexander disagreed. "I just couldn't, in all conscience, sit there
with a brand-new, $120 million facility and not find a way to use it; it
just doesn't make sense to me. I think this is a reasonable
compromise."

April 24, 2010 Tampa Tribune
House and Senate budget chiefs agreed Friday on money for Florida Forever
and a range of other issues, but will spend the weekend haggling over items
ranging from crisis pregnancy counseling to trading state-run prison beds
for private ones. The popular-but-pricey Florida Forever program won $15
million Friday after losing in budget negotiations last year. When the
House refused in 2009 to provide new money for the land conservation
program, its line item, to the alarm of environmentalists, vanished from
the budget. This year, the House initially left the program out of its
budget plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Janet Bowman of the
Nature Conservancy said environmentalists are grateful for the $15 million
"bridge" funding. The proposed cash infusion, she said, will pay
for land appraisals and allow the state to negotiate with land owners.
Other issues on which Senate and House budget chiefs agreed during the past
several days: •Spending $10 million on Everglades restoration. •Repealing a
shoreline fishing fee lawmakers passed in 2009. •Cutting state payment
rates to nursing homes by 7 percent. •Spending $200,000 on a new Innocence
Commission to study why innocent people have wound up in prison and prevent
future cases. •Spending $11.7 million on aid to libraries, less than the
full $21 million funding the Senate proposed earlier. All decisions on the
budget remain unofficial until the end of conferencing. The nursing home
rate reduction is among a handful of recent agreements considered
tentative, given concerns in both chambers about potential harm to nursing
home residents. House and Senate budget chiefs will likely wrap up their
negotiations on Sunday, at which point they forward any remaining sticking
points to House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater for
final decisions. Public versus private -- Among the issues still at play
this weekend: How to handle the opening of Blackwater River Corrections
Institution, a private prison in Santa Rosa County. The Legislature
authorized construction of the low-cost, highly efficient prison in
response to predictions that the prison population would jump more sharply
than it has. The Senate is proposing to shutter less efficient state
facilities and eliminate more than 300 vacant positions in the Department
of Corrections to open 2,224 beds at Blackwater. That is 224 more beds than
facility was designed to hold. Carter Goble Lee, the Atlanta-based firm
contracted as Blackwater's project manager, warned the state Department of
Management Services in an April 2 letter that the extra beds would place
the state at risk of litigation by violating an industry standard of
"25 square feet of unencumbered space per inmate." Senate budget
chief JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said Friday the state can avoid
overcrowding by "double-bunking" dormitory space for lower-risk
inmates. "It's typical of the kind of structure that we have in our
publicly operated prisons, so we felt like that was a good, efficient move
to contain costs." The Senate proposes more than $24 million in cuts
to the state corrections budget to offset the cost of opening Blackwater.
Meanwhile, the state has 4,000 to 5,000 vacant beds available in the
existing state system, said Ken Kopczynski, political affairs assistant for
the Florida Police Benevolent Association. "There's no need for this
prison," Kopczynski said. "They should let it sit until they need
it." Alexander said that's not acceptable. "I believe it will
save us money," he said. "It's unconscionable to me to have a
$120 million facility sitting empty - the newest, most state-of-the-art
facility. I don't know how I would tell the taxpayers that that's OK."
The House has agreed to the corresponding reduction in prison staff
vacancies, but not the extra 224 beds.

April 23, 2010 WEAR TV
It cost taxpayers over 120 million bucks and one state agency says it's not
needed. Now the deal to build a new prison in Milton is attracting the
attention of federal investigators. Dan Thomas/dthomas@weartv.com:
"Take a look we're out here at the site of the new state prison in
Milton and construction is full speed ahead out here today. It's 120
million taxpayer dollars being spent to build it out here. It could mean up
to 400 jobs here to the local economy. One major problem with the project
though? The State Department of Corrections says they don't need any of
this. It's a situation that one report out of Tallahassee says has piqued
the interest of the FBI." An unnamed source close to the
investigation, says the FBI is curious about the prison deal. One of many
dealings of former house speaker Ray Sansom currently under scrutiny. We
know the FBI has spoken to at least one person locally about the matter.
County Commissioner Don Salter says Federal agents have not talked to him
but he expects the whole thing to blow over soon. Don Salter/Santa Rosa
Commissioner: "Hopefully everything is going to workout, I suspect
after august after the primary election and in November it'll probably calm
down and everything will go forward." The state senate wants the
Blackwater prison open with prisoners shipped in from existing facilities.
Meanwhile the house didn't allocate any money to run it. Salter says the state
may have no choice but to open the prison. Don Salter/Santa Rosa
Commissioner: "It's my understanding that GEO bonded this project. The
state guaranteed those bonds. So one way or the other the taxpayers of
Florida will pay for this facility." Dan Thomas/dthomas@weartv.com:
"And just what the legislature decides to do with this facility and
those 400 jobs is expected to be decided next week." No matter what
the legislature decides, construction is expected to be complete in July.
If the facility is opened. They could start taking prisoners by November.

April 23, 2010 Florida News Network
The FBI is asking question about former House Speaker Ray Sansom’s
involvement with a legislative deal to build a private prison. The news
comes as the feds investigate Sansom, Marco Rubio, and former GOP Chairman
Jim Greer for spending millions on Republican Party of Florida credit
cards. As Whitney Ray tells us, the trouble for the GOP keeps growing. A
legislative plan to close as many as five state prisons and ship inmates to
a private prison run by GEO Group was scaled back last month by public out
cry. Former House Speaker Ray Sansom originated the deal with an amendment
in the 2008 state budget. On March 30th, a concerned citizen filed a
complaint with the US Attorney’s Office calling for an investigation. A
source familiar with the complaint says the FBI has been asking questions.
A GEO Group Lobbyist says the feds haven’t questioned him. “I never heard
anything like that at all,” said Smith. According to our source the feds
may be searching to see if Sansom received any kickbacks from the company.
GEO Group, formally known as Wackenhut, gave Sansom’s campaign 500 hundred
dollars for his 2007 campaign. The company gave 145-thousand dollars to the
Republican Party of Florida in 2008, and another 130-thousand in 2009.
Neither Sansom’s lawyer nor the FBI returned our requests for interviews.
Plans to house 22-hundred inmates in the private prison are moving forward
in this year’s budget negotiations. The Police Benevolent Association says
lawmakers should halt the prison plan. “The legislature would be smart to
the taxpayers if they stopped this deal and took another look at it,” said
Puckett. Earlier this week news broke of an FBI investigation into spending
by Sansom, and several other high ranking Republicans on party issued
credit cards. Questions about the prison deal may have spawned from their
current investigation.

April 2, 2010 WEAR TV
A prison nurse in Santa Rosa County wants a federal and state investigation
into the deal to bring the private Blackwater prison to Milton. Elva McCaig
has compiled a lengthy and detailed account of the legislative moves former
state representative Ray Sansom made in the 2008 budget to make the deal
happen. She points out that the state bought the property for the prison
from the Geo Group for $1.6 million. The state also awarded Geo the
contract to build the facility for $110 million. She goes on to allege a
number of other "back-room" transactions. McCaig is a nurse at the
state-run jail next door to the site of the new facility, and she strongly
opposes privatization of prisons.

March 31, 2010 Tampa Tribune
GOP leaders in the Florida Senate appeared Tuesday night to back off on a
controversial budget proposal that would force the closure of two state
prisons in order to open a cheaper private one. Senate Minority Leader Al
Lawson, D-Tallahassee, said Senate budget chief JD Alexander and Senate
President Jeff Atwater have agreed not to require the state to shutter two
as-yet unnamed prisons and privatize one to fill the private Blackwater
River Correctional Facility in Santa Rosa County. That privatization plan,
from Senate Ways and Means Chairman Alexander, appears in the proposed
2010-11 budget that the full Senate will begin considering today. Lawson,
who filed an amendment late Monday that would strip the Blackwater plan
from the budget entirely, said Tuesday night that he will file another that
will leave it up to the state Department of Corrections how best to fill
the private facility. Alexander and Senate President Jeff Atwater indicated
Tuesday evening that they would accept such an amendment, said Lawson,
R-Tallahassee. Lawson's district includes at least one small town fearing
the loss of a local prison rumored to be a target of closure under
Alexander's plan. "This will remove the panic," Lawson said.
Blackwater still would open this year, he said, but without an estimated
cut to prison budgets of $20 million. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said Tuesday
that he still needs to see the language of Lawson's amendment but that they
mostly have agreed on a different approach. The Legislature authorized
construction of the low-cost highly efficient Blackwater facility in 2008,
responding to predictions that the prison population would jump more
sharply than it has. There is no version of the privatization proposal in
the House. The two chambers will have to negotiate a final budget before
the end of the session.

March 30, 2010 WJHG
More than 400 people showed up at a rally in Sneads this afternoon to
protest a Senate budget-cutting proposal. The plan would supposedly save
$68 million dollars by closing two state prisons and privatize a third. But
some of the money would go to pay a private company to operate the new 2200
bed Blackwater Correctional Institute in Santa Rosa County. Folks in
Jackson County are worried Apalachee Correctional Institute will become a
victim of what they're now calling the 'Blackwater Bailout.' More than 400
people showed up at a rally in Sneads this afternoon to protest a Senate
budget-cutting proposal. The plan would supposedly save $68 million dollars
by closing two state prisons and privatize a third. But some of the money
would go to pay a private company to operate the new 2200 bed Blackwater
Correctional Institute in Santa Rosa County. Folks in Jackson County are
worried Apalachee Correctional Institute will become a victim of what
they're now calling the 'Blackwater Bailout.' Jackson County Commission
Chairman Jeremy Branch didn't sugar-coat his feelings about Blackwater
Correctional Institution. "Let me tell you what I hope it does: I hope
it stays there and I hope it turns into a tombstone for privatization, I
hope it's a monument to help symbolize the death of privatization in the
state of Florida." The new prison in Santa Rosa County is 90%
complete. The state owns it, but is planning to let a private company
operate it. Branch and others, including the top State Corrections
official, hope Blackwater never opens its doors. DOC Secretary Walter
McNeil says, "I will not stand idly by. We're gonna fight until our
little fingers are down to the bone to make sure that this does not come to
fruition." Former State Representative Loranne Ausley asks, "when
our communities are experiencing the worst employment, foreclosure rate,
our budget is the worst it has been, how is it you can find 160-million
dollars to build a prison that you don't need?!" If the state taps ACI
as one of the two prisons that will close, community leaders say it will
mean 640 workers will lose their jobs and the Sneads economy will be
devastated. James Baiardi of the Police Benevolent Association, says
"this is wrong, it's nothing more than a corporate bailout, that's all
it is. They made the mistake and they want you to pay, your community to pay
and they want the Correctional officers to pay for their mistake."
74-year-old Reverend Willis Raines Sr. has lived in Sneads his whole life.
He raised 17 kids and knows firsthand ACI's impact on the local economy.
"It creates communities where people get their jobs and support their
families in our communities which is very, very important." Others are
concerned the state could close as many as 5 prisons and will begin the
early-release of inmates to compensate for the lack of prison beds. But former
State Representative Curtis Richardson says, "we're here to say not
'NO' but 'HELL NO!' We will not take it anymore. They can keep this deal in
Tallahassee. We're not gonna have it." Richardson went on to blame
former House Speaker Ray Sansom for the situation. Sansom filed the 2008
budget amendment that issued state bonds to build Blackwater and hire a
private company to operate it. Richardson said there's no question this can
be tied to the kind of back room, smoke filled room, dirty deals Ray Sansom
has become associated with.

March 30, 2010 Palm Beach Post
Once again, a Tallahassee lawmaker is playing hide and don't seek with
Florida's budget. This time, the perpetrator is Senate budget chief J.D.
Alexander. Last week, the Lake Wales Republican bypassed standard
procedures to amend the proposed spending bill to close at least two
state-run prisons, open a new private prison and privatize others. Sen.
Alexander claims moving prisoners from state-run facilities to private ones
will save $42 million a year. Why, then, didn't he bother to notify the
Department of Corrections? Surely, the DOC should know about such a drastic
change. Sen. Alexander's last-minute move would benefit Boca Raton-based
GEO Group, the company likely to run one of the facilities. Sen. Alexander's
amendment continues budget sleight-of-hand begun by former House Speaker
Ray Sansom. That Santa Rosa County Republican slipped into the 2008 budget
a $110 million appropriation the state used to pay GEO Group to build the
private prison in his home county. That's the prison that Sen. Alexander
now hopes to open. Mr. Sansom resigned last year as speaker and this year
left the House after indictment on charges related to another deal he
tucked into that budget — $6 million to build an airplane hangar for a
major contributor to himself and the Republican Party. The GEO Group, which
runs the South Bay Correctional Institution, has had a number of inmate
deaths and riots at its prisons. Last year, a Texas appeals court upheld a
2006 $40 million wrongful death judgment concerning an inmate fatally
beaten in 2001. Unless other prisons close, there aren't enough inmates to
fill the 2,224-bed prison near the Blackwater River in Santa Rosa County.
Also, the company, which contributed $158,000 to Florida Republicans and
$17,000 to Democrats during the 2008 election cycle, saw its stock price
drop as much as 8 percent earlier this month when the Federal Bureau of
Prisons canceled plans to house illegal aliens convicted of crimes. GEO
Group expected those inmates to fill a facility it operates in Michigan. An
analyst pointed out at the time that all was not bad for GEO Group because
the company's earnings from the Blackwater facility had not been included
in its 2010 forecast. Sen. Alexander, whose amendment would help
Blackwater's profits, also did not include the impact it would have on
prison overcrowding when he forecast the savings privatization would bring
to the state. Secretary of Corrections Walt McNeil estimates the amendment
would shutter five prisons and force the department to release about 2,500
inmates early. "Everybody," Mr. McNeil said, "should be
concerned about it." Everybody also should be concerned when
legislators conduct state business under the cover of darkness. Obviously
lawmakers should discuss prison projections and clear up serious
disagreements about the numbers before acting. Last year, the grand jury
that indicted former Rep. Sansom condemned the Legislature's clandestine
budgeting process that lets a select few lawmakers make decisions behind
closed doors. Sen. Alexander should read that grand jury report and take
notes.

March 27, 2010 Palm Beach PostAfter repeatedly emphasizing his commitment to "open and
transparent" government during a committee meeting Thursday evening,
Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander attached a last-minute
prison-privatization amendment to the state's spending bill without any
warning to anyone it would affect, including the Department of Corrections.
Alexander's proposal to open a privately run prison near the Blackwater
River in the Panhandle would shutter at least two state-run prisons and put
639 prison guards out of work, the Lakeland Republican told the committee.
His plan also would privatize an unidentified existing 1,350-bed prison,
bringing the number of guards who would get pink slips up to 1,400,
according to the amendment. Alexander says that shutting down prisons to
fill a 2,224-bed facility to be run by Boca Raton-based Geo Group would
save the state about $20 million a year. And it would put into use the
state-of-the-art, energy-efficient Blackwater prison the state paid Geo
$110 million to build near Milton in a deal slipped into the 2008 budget by
state Rep. Ray Sansom before he became House speaker. Sansom later stepped
down from that position in disgrace. But corrections officials object to
the plan and say Alexander overestimates the state's potential savings by
going private. Geo is now negotiating with the Department of Management
Services to run Blackwater, but with a major hitch: The state doesn't have
enough inmates to fill it without closing other prisons. That's because the
state overestimated how many inmates would be incarcerated and the prison
population is declining despite historically high unemployment. Alexander
based his estimate on a $65-a-day rate for inmates in state-run prisons and
$41 a day that Geo says it can charge for Blackwater, a savings of $24 a
day for each of the 2,224 inmates who would be housed at the facility. But
corrections officials say the savings would be about $9 million — less than
half Alexander's $20 million estimate — because their average daily rate is
$52 while the private prison's costs would depend on what kind of inmates
were locked up at Blackwater. "We don't believe this is the right way
to open Blackwater," said DOC spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger. Blackwater
was originally supposed to house mentally ill and seriously sick inmates
who cost more to care for, but documents show that the state is now
negotiating with Geo to care for inmates who are the cheapest and easiest
to supervise. "As discussed earlier today, we wanted to provide you
with a revised pricing for the Blackwater Facility if it were to house
2,224 M-1/M-2/S-1 inmates," an unidentified Geo official wrote on
March 19 to Michael Weber, chief of private prison monitoring at the
Department of Management Services. M-1, M-2 and S-1 inmates are relatively
healthy and have no mental health issues. The $41-a-day price goes up to
$45 if the 2,224-bed facility does not run at full capacity, according to
the e-mail. But DMS spokeswoman Linda McDonald declined to say who would
run Blackwater because negotiations aren't finished. And she would not say
what type of inmates would be housed there. "That is not a decision
that DMS makes. Ultimately it could be the legislature, but DOC is
certainly involved, too," McDonald said. Plessinger said it is
unlikely that all the inmates from one prison could be transferred to
Blackwater because most prisons have a mix of classes of prisoners. She
also said corrections officials have no idea which prisons will be shut
down. Deal 'sneaky,' some say -- Alexander's late-filed amendment is the
latest twist in a deal worked out in secrecy for at least two years since
Sansom set it into motion. Sansom resigned his speakership in 2009 after
being indicted on charges including grand theft related to a deal he tucked
into the 2008 budget. He is facing trial on charges of steering tax money
to build a jet hangar for developer Jay Odom, who donated nearly $1 million
to Sansom and the state Republican Party, at a Panhandle college that hired
him the day he became speaker. In the same budget, the Santa Rosa County
Republican also slipped in a $110 million appropriation to build a private
prison in his home county. Alexander's privatization plan was never
discussed during the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations
Committee meetings where prison spending is usually decided. The committee
chairman, Victor Crist, voted against the amendment Thursday. He said the
potential savings by privatizing the prisons could not only put people out
of work but also devastate the rural communities in which the prisons are
based. "They generally are the primary if not the only employer there.
If you shut it down, you could be shutting down a town. All of a sudden,
everyone there could be out of work," said Crist, R-Tampa. "How
do they sell their homes? How do they relocate even if they got a job with
a private prison 300 miles away?" And, Crist said, the laid-off prison
guards — whose annual salaries average between $30,000 and $35,000 — could
wind up costing the state more if they sign up for state services for the
unemployed. "Sometimes a dollar saved upfront could cost you two
dollars behind," he said. Alexander said he introduced the amendment
because Crist refused to do so and as Senate budget chairman he wants to
save money on prisons to help close a $3.2 billion spending gap. "Many
states have reduced their incarceration costs by using privatization,"
said Alexander, R-Lake Wales. He estimated Florida could save up to $700
million a year by privatizing each of its 62 prisons. But Police Benevolent
Association President Jim Baiardi said Alexander kept his plan quiet to
avoid public debate on the controversial issue. "It's been sneaky. Very
sneaky. It's almost like it's been done in the dead of the night. So much
for open government," Baiardi said, calling it a giveaway for Geo.
"I don't understand how they can say that," Alexander said.
"The reality is we've got a brand-new prison that the state directed
and used taxpayers' monies to build. I think putting that prison online,
saving the money, saving the maintenance costs, is something that only
makes good financial sense for the people of Florida."

September 10, 2009 Northwest Florida Daily NewsThe Santa Rosa County Sheriff's office arrested eight undocumented
workers and charged six of them with fraud on Tuesday. Deputies conducted a
traffic stop near the area of a construction site on Jeff Ates Road in
Milton. Crews there are working to build a new private prison and the
Sheriff's Office had received word that some of the crew members weren't in
the United States legally. During the traffic stop on Sept. 8, a Special
Operations investigator determined the four people in the vehicle did not have
proper paperwork and documentation. The men said they were employed at the
construction site as masons. Lawmen contacted the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Agency and reported the arrest of two of the men in the car.
Abelino Oviedo-Salinas, 25, was arrested for traffic violation and Sergio
Mata-Oviedo, 18, was arrested for resisting an officer. The job foreman at
the construction site was cooperative and reported the men were hired by a
subcontractor at the site. The subcontractor said the men were sent to him
through Robles Masonry in Alabama. After investigating the claims, six more
men were arrested for providing false identification information to fill
out their tax forms. Margaro Elias, 48, Jaime Condeles, 37, Mariano
Sanchez-Ramiez, 21, Amado Landaverde-Vizcaya, 27, Jaime Flores-Aguilar, 32,
and Bernardo Mata, 25, were charged with fraud. ICE was notified of the six
arrests and bond was withheld for all the men arrested, pending their first
appearance. There were no local addresses, local ties or valid information
they could provide. Authorities report showed two of the men had
fingerprints that matched prior arrests under different names in other
parts of the country. Several of the other men, including the driver from
the traffic stop, have prior arrests for illegal entry into the United
States.

July 24, 2009 Santa Rosa Press-GazetteIt doesn’t appear that some tensions have died down since Monday’s
meeting of the Santa Rosa County Commissioners where Chairman Don Salter
entered into the minutes he “as chairman feared for the safety of certain
individuals involved with economic development” based on the comments he
quoted of Alan Isaacson. Since then, the feelings are still there. “I have
a right to petition my government and asked them to take action based on
the contract I drafted with them,” said Isaacson. “Then to have someone who
accuses you of potential murder. “I was hurt, but I was also concerned
about the fact that in the past two months I found 11 instances of items
being withheld by TEAM. And that violates the agreement with the county
according to paragraph 14.” Paragraph 14 section b in the Funding Program
Agreement between TEAM and the Santa Rosa County Commission states, “TEAM
shall, subject to and comply with the provisions of Chapter 119, Florida
Statutes, and other relevant laws, permit public access to all documents or
other materials prepared, developed or received by it in connection with
the performance of its obligations or the exercise of its rights under this
Agreement, unless exempted or confidential by law. This Agreement may be
terminated by (the) County pursuant to paragraph 17 if TEAM fails to allow
such public access.” Isaacson, who is now a witness into the State
Attorney’s investigation into matters involving TEAM and government
entities, is wondering why the contract is not being followed. “In 2007 the
state attorney’s office told us TEAM was crystal clear on the regulations,
but in Oct. of 2008 they form a committee to study what they need to do to
be in compliance with the Sunshine Law,” said Isaacson. “Then in Jan. of
2009 they are still studying it and are basically forced to follow the
law.” Most of the recent contention to arise this past week focused on an
e-mail that came to light when John Myslak, who is a TEAM Board Member,
addressed charges against him to members of the Santa Rosa County
Commission as Myslak was awarded a contract involving the GEO Prison
Project in East Milton. Other names were noted in the e-mail included TEAM
members John Griffing, Pete Gandy, and Dick Hohorst may have or are all
being paid by taxpayer funds even through the meetings leading up to these
payouts which were held outside of the sunshine. He also questioned the
$70,000 grant/contract Jeff Helms, with PBS&J, just finished with the
Whiting Aviation Park. Since the e-mail was sent it has been learned Helms
was awarded the contract prior to joining the board of TEAM Santa Rosa.
Helms pointed out the contract he was awarded was based on a request for
proposals and we went through a process and was fortunate enough to get
part of the work. But questions involving the board and recent action still
remain. Ken Kopczynski, with the Florida Police Benevolent Association, has
been going through a battle to get documents involving an open records
request since Sept. 2008 as they were looking into the matter with GEO
Prisons. “We have had a long dialogue between the PBA and the County,” said
Kopczynski. “One of our guys heard about this private prison on the agenda
one Monday and they vote on the letter of support the following Thursday.
“Our member raised questions on how this prison came about.” When the
association sent their letter, TEAM replied their records were exempt. “We
also asked for correspondence between Management Training Corporation and
John Vanyur,” said Kopczynski. “They told us there was no documents
regarding MTC. “Yet we learn about an e-mail dated in April 2008 from
Vanyur to TEAM Santa Rosa.” Since this time the Florida PBA, one of the
state’s largest unions, contacted Roy Andrews who on July 14 stated he was
not the custodian of the public records for TEAM, but that he has “given
the staff my opinion that all their records are public with the exception
of those exemptions specifically set forth in Florida Statute 288.075 for
the applicable time periods.” This is causing a great deal of concern to
those like Isaacson, who have been championing open records and meetings
for a long time. “If one of the largest unions in the state can’t get the
information, what makes you think an individual like me can,” said
Isaacson. When asked about if he has ever taken the time to talk to
Isaacson about these questions and concerns Salter stated they had talked
some six months ago. “I talked to Alan about six months ago for three hours
to explain my position on economic development and base protection and we
agreed to disagree,” said Salter. “My big point is for two years they have
been saying their allegations on local radio and everywhere they can that
we are guilty and the allegations they have. “If you have a problem and
feel something is wrong then file the proper complaint and let the legal
system work through it; don’t convict in the media.” “I want to say just as
a reminder when you do stuff like this personalities do arise,” said Isaacson.
“But I do not apologize for what I am doing because these items need to be
done out in the open. “I have a fiduciary responsibility to check on what
is questionable and in my opinion in Oct. of last year your own attorney
agreed.”

Bridgeport
Correctional Center, Bridgeport, TexasJune
27, 2010 Wise County MessengerA new management company will take over the Bridgeport Correctional
Center beginning Aug. 31. The 520-bed facility has been managed by GEO
Group Inc., since the center opened in August 1989. GEO was reawarded a
three-year contract from Sept. 1, 2005, and also had two, one-year
renewals. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice conducted a competitive
bid process, and Management & Training Corp. won the seven-year bid.
"There's a technical review of the bid and a financial review of the
bid," said Jason Clark, public information officer for the TDCJ. Clark
said that the reviews are done separately by different committees.
"They score those reviews and compile the scores and a recommendation
is made to the TDCJ."

June 7, 2005 Wise County MessengerThe Rev. Gil Pansza and an official with The Catholic Diocese of Fort
Worth met with officials of the Bridgeport Correctional Center Wednesday to
discuss Pansza’s dismissal as a volunteer from the men’s division of the
center, but Pansza said he remains barred from the facility. “They didn’t
invite me back,” said Pansza, pastor of St. John’s Catholic Church in
Bridgeport and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Decatur. Pansza and
Ralph McCloud, division director of the Social Justice Ministry of the
diocese, said they met with senior warden Priscella Miles, assistant warden
Bobby Thompson and chaplain Phillip Yoder at the center. Pansza said Yoder
told him a couple of weeks ago that his services were no longer necessary
at the center, which Pansza had been visiting since February. Miles said in
a previous story that Pansza was barred because of his demeanor and because
the prison feared a security issue could occur with Catholic prisoners. On
Wednesday, Pansza said the entire group met for almost an hour, and then
Miles and McCloud met privately for a half-hour. “Warden Miles was
interested in better understanding what our concerns were, and I think she
was pretty patient in listening to what I had to say,” Pansza said. “She
gave an opportunity for the chaplain to say what his views were and then to
warden Thompson as to what his views were. Her concern is that there’s an
allegation of discrimination. I pointed out that that allegation was not by
the church. And she mentioned that the allegation really came from the
community. On prison officials’ concerns about security issues, Pansza said
Thompson mentioned that he was concerned about “offender manipulation.”
Pansza said officials were concerned that he would tell the offenders that
the institution was not giving him access to prisoners, and that “the
offenders would be quite upset about that and maybe that would become a
security issue.” “I guess I can understand that,” Pansza said. “That’s
certainly not something I would want to do. But I can understand his
concern.” Yet Pansza said Thursday that he’s confused about Thompson’s
justification on the matter of security concerns. On the day Thompson told
Pansza that he supported Yoder’s decision to bar Pansza from the prison,
the subject of security concerns was never broached, Pansza said. Pansza
said he thinks that issue emerged after the fact. Pansza said one offender
in segregation asked to see his priest but was denied access. Pansza said
Yoder told him that the warden said the prison was ready to transfer him to
another unit.

June 28, 2005 Wise County
Messenger
The Office of the Inspector General will investigate the death of an inmate
who was housed at the Corrections Corporation of America in
Bridgeport.Julia Martinez, 29,
collapsed Wednesday afternoon and was pronounced dead a short time later at
Wise Regional Health System.Warden
Gwen Bowers said Martinez reportedly collapsed in the facility’s outdoor
exercise area. Paramedics were called and transported Martinez to WRHS.

June 2, 2005 Wise County MessengerA Wise County priest says he has been barred from performing church
services or visiting with offenders at the men’s division of the Bridgeport
Correctional Center. The Rev. Gil Pansza, pastor of St. John’s Catholic
Church in Bridgeport and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Decatur,
said he doesn’t know why he has been prevented from celebrating Mass or
talking with prisoners. Priscella Miles, senior warden at the prison, said
Tuesday that Pansza has been barred from the prison, but that she is open
to talking with him. She said she talked with him last week and hopes to
hear from him again this week. Pansza said problems emerged three weeks
ago, after he saw another church service advertised on flyers on two
bulletin boards at the facility. He asked Chaplain Phillip Yoder whether
Catholic Masses could be advertised on flyers on 12 bulletin boards at the
prison. He said he also asked whether Thursday Mass could be placed on the
monthly religious service calendar. The Mass was later advertised on a
corrected calendar, Pansza said. Pansza said he and Yoder discussed church
postings on bulletin boards. Yoder agreed to allow the posting of the
Catholic service flyers. About a week later, before Pansza’s next Mass,
Pansza said he visited with Yoder, who was upset about their previous
meeting and said he thought Pansza had questioned his integrity. After some
discussion on the bulletin boards and prisoner visitation – Pansza said he
apologized to Yoder if he offended him and that he was just trying to
ensure Catholic Masses receive the same treatment as others – Yoder told
Pansza that he was a guest in the facility and that he was under his supervision.
Pansza said understood prison rules but told him that he would not
“tolerate disparate treatment” from Yoder’s office or anyone else, meaning
that he didn’t accept what he thought was Yoder’s office promoting one
church service over another. “I guess he didn’t like that,” Pansza said.
Pansza said Yoder then told him that his services were no longer necessary
at the prison, Pansza said. Miles said The GEO Group Inc. – which contracts with the state
to manage the Bridgeport unit – and the Bridgeport Correctional Center
support all religions.

Broward
Transition Center, Pompano Beach, FloridaOct 17,
2017 sun-sentinel.comGovernment contractors took bribes to remove immigrants' electronic
monitors, feds sayTwo government contractors and a relative who posed as an immigration
official are facing federal charges they took bribes in exchange for
illegally removing electronic monitors from immigrants who faced
deportation. Investigators say the trio requested and collected bribes of
between $1,850 and $5,000 per person from several immigrants in Broward and
Miami-Dade counties from November 2010 to April 2014. Elisa Pelaez, 54, of
Miami Shores, and Miami cousins Ginou Baptiste, 48, and Fritz Cyriaque, 50,
are all charged with conspiring to commit bribery. Cyriaque, a
self-employed car salesman, is also charged with impersonating a federal
officer. Pelaez and Baptiste worked for Behavioral Intervention Inc, a Geo
Group company, which had a contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security to supervise immigrants who were released from detention while
deportation and immigration proceedings were pending against them. Company
workers were supposed to supervise immigrants released under the Intensive
Supervision Appearance Program. Many of the released immigrants were
required to wear electronic or GPS monitors. Immigration attorneys said the
program is designed to reduce costs and the number of people in detention.
It is designed for immigrants who are not considered a threat to public
safety or national security, but are considered to be at risk of committing
criminal acts or failing to appear at immigration hearings. Pelaez and
Baptiste, who have both been fired from their jobs, abused their positions
to approach immigrants they were supervising and offer to have their
electronic monitors removed in exchange for cash payments, prosecutor
Francis Viamontes said. The women targeted people they thought had enough
money and referred them to Cyriaque, who pretended to be an Immigration and
Customs Enforcement official. After the victims handed over the money,
Pelaez and Baptiste instructed their co-workers to remove the monitors.
Investigators said all three of the suspects used intimidation to
discourage the victims from reporting what happened. Cyriaque, a convicted
felon with prior arrests for grand theft and possession of a firearm, acted
as the “security” or “muscle” for the group, Viamontes said in court. She
said he threatened the victims with deportation: “He would tell them things
like ‘I can bury you.’” Cyriaque is a Haitian citizen who has been a legal
permanent resident of the U.S. for 32 years and has eight children, his
attorney said in court. Baptiste and Cyriaque have pleaded not guilty and
are jailed, for now, in Broward County. Pelaez is due in court in the next
several days. Authorities ask anyone with information to call Agent Erik
Gonzalez at the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of
Homeland Security at 954-538-7555April 29, 2013 palmbeachpost.com

Miami-based Americans for Immigrant
Justice has issued a report strongly criticizing the treatment of
non-criminal immigrants at the Broward Transitional Center (BTC), which is
operated by and GEO Group of Boca Raton, under the direction of the the
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. “The BTC report features
the cases of numerous detainees with no criminal or minimal criminal
history needlessly subjected to abuse,” says the immigration advocacy
group. According to the report, one female detainee told a BTC deportation
officer she was scared to return to her homeland. “She should have been
given an interview to determine whether she could apply for asylum,” says
the report. “Instead, she was quickly deported.” A male detainee was
diagnosed with a painful hernia but ICE “declined to pay for the surgery,
yet detained him for six months while he suffered much pain,” according to
the authors of the report. The report also documents three cases of alleged
sexual assault. “As Congress works to reform an outdated immigration system,
members would be wise to reform abusive detention facilities, including the
Broward Transitional Center,” said Susana Barciela, spokesperson for AIJ.
“Further, it makes no sense to detain immigrants who pose no danger.
Alternatives to detention are effective and far cheaper.” Under the Obama
administration, immigration authorities have said they are focused on
deporting dangerous criminal aliens, not those with only immigration
offenses, but immigration advocates have said many non-criminal immigrants
are still being detained and deported. “If ICE truly focused on detaining
and deporting dangerous criminals, it would save more than a billion
dollars annually,” Barciela said. “These savings would help relieve the
nation’s fiscal concerns.”

January 5, 2013 By Megan O'Matz, Sun Sentinel
DEERFIELD BEACH Hundreds of men and women who have committed minor
offenses, such as driving without a license, or no apparent crime at all,
are locked up for weeks and months in a little-known central Broward County
facility run by a private company. They are immigrants, accused of entering
the country without legal authorization or staying longer than permitted.
Their treatment — at the hands of the federal government and the Boca
Raton-based firm hired to keep them at the 700-bed Broward Transitional
Center — has become a growing controversy since July, when a detainee went
on hunger strike and activists staged protests demanding a halt to the
confinement and deportation of foreigners with no serious criminal
histories. In a daring move, two young adults, both illegal immigrants
brought by their families to the United States as children, turned
themselves in to gain access to the center and expose what they claimed
were human rights abuses and policy violations by federal authorities. Once
inside, they said they found people unjustly arrested and subjected to
lengthy and unnecessary confinement, and reported incidents of substandard
or callous medical care, including a woman taken for ovarian surgery and
returned the same day, still bleeding, to her cell, and a man who urinated
blood for days but wasn't taken to see a doctor. ICE denies any
mistreatment. In a recent interview with the Sun Sentinel, the agency's
Miami Field Office Director Marc J. Moore said conditions at the facility
are excellent and that the "staff here treats people with
respect." But the young activists' claims captured the attention of 26
members of Congress, who wrote to the nation's chief immigration official
demanding a review of all detainees locked up at the Broward facility and
an investigation into the quality of medical care there. "Some of the
reports coming out of the center are horrifying," lawmakers, including
South Florida Democrats Ted Deutch, Frederica Wilson and Alcee Hastings, wrote
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton. ICE has yet
to reply to the letter, written in September. Last week, Deutch sent a
second letter, chastising ICE for its "excessive delay" and
demanding it respond immediately to lawmakers' concerns. "It's
certainly time for us to hear back, and it's well past time that these
serious issues be addressed," Deutch, of Boca Raton, told the Sun
Sentinel on Friday. If legislators continue to encounter silence from ICE,
Deutch said they will investigate what actions can be taken to ensure that
a review of the center is made and "these human rights abuses are
stopped."

August 25, 2012 Palm Beach Post
For Nicaraguan immigrant Serafin Solorzano, being jailed for overstaying
his visa was bad enough. Even worse: Solorzano said he was denied access to
his asthma inhaler for part of a two-week stay at an immigration detention
center in Deerfield Beach. Without access to his medicine, he felt as
though he was suffocating. Solorzano, now 54, recovered from the asthma attack.
But the experience two years ago led him to join the growing list of
critics of GEO Group, the Boca Raton-based prison operator that owns the
700-bed Broward Transition Center where Solorzano was held. “This is
something that has violated my human rights,” Solorzano told reporters in
May as he and other critics protested outside the GEO Group’s annual
meeting at The Breakers in Palm Beach. Solorzano’s gripes have been echoed
by inmates, by civil libertarians and by state and federal regulators who have
scrutinized GEO Group’s operations. They argue that GEO Group pads its
profits by cutting worker wages, skimping on inmate health care and
ignoring safety and sanitation. Despite the complaints, GEO Group (NYSE:
GEO) continues to grow, thanks to rising prison populations and the federal
government’s move to privatize detention of immigrants. GEO Group is on
track to book $1.7 billion in revenues in 2012, its biggest year on record
and a hundredfold increase from 1994, the prison operator’s first year as a
publicly traded company. GEO Group launched as Wackenhut Corrections and
was based in Coral Gables. After a move to Palm Beach Gardens in the 1990s,
GEO Group landed in Boca Raton. Governments pay GEO Group to run nearly
80,000 beds in prisons and hospitals worldwide. Among the institutions
operated by GEO Group are South Bay Correctional Facility, a 1,862-bed
state prison in western Palm Beach County; the 700-bed Broward Transition
Center, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility; and the Treasure
Coast Forensic Treatment Center, a 223-bed state hospital in Stuart. GEO
Group’s revenue — which has risen every year for nearly 20 years — and
steady profits make it a financial success story. It’s the second-largest
operator of private prisons, trailing only Corrections Corp. of America
(NYSE: CXW) of Nashville. But investors clearly prefer CCA. While GEO
Group’s revenue is similar to CCA’s, CCA is twice as profitable, and CCA’s
market capitalization is twice GEO Group’s. A $10,000 investment five years
ago in GEO Group would have dwindled to $8,667, while the same amount
invested in CCA would have grown to $13,237. Meanwhile, GEO Group has been
dogged for years by reports of sloppy — and sometimes gruesome — practices.
One recent black eye: In June, the federal Occupational Safety and Health
Administration proposed fines totaling $104,100 for violations at a GEO
Group prison in Meridian, Miss. Federal inspectors visited the prison in
December and found too few guards on duty and broken cell locks. OSHA said
GEO Group guards were stabbed, bitten, punched and kicked by inmates, and
that the company did little to protect them. In one of the prison’s housing
units, only three guards were on duty. GEO Group’s staffing plan called for
eight officers to be on guard. Understaffing meant guards were more likely
to be attacked by prisoners, OSHA said. What’s more, inmates tampered with
cell doors so that they could be opened by prisoners from the inside but
not by guards from the outside. “This employer knowingly put workers at
risk of injury or death by failing to implement well recognized measures
that would protect employees from physical assaults by inmates,” Clyde
Payne, OSHA’s director in Jackson, Miss., said in a statement. GEO Group
has contested OSHA’s findings. GEO Group has been on the receiving end of a
laundry list of regulatory actions and lawsuits. Among them: •In 2011, an
Oklahoma jury ordered GEO to pay $6.5 million to the family of Ronald
Sites, an inmate who was strangled to death by his cellmate in 2005. •In
2011, Florida Department of Corrections investigators visited GEO Group’s
prison in South Bay for a drug sweep and couldn’t get in. No one was
stationed at the front gate, and no one responded when state employees
pushed the alert button and shined flashlights at the prison surveillance
cameras. •Also last year, the Florida Department of Children and Families
said GEO Group’s neglect contributed to the death of a South Florida State
Hospital patient. The man was being escorted by GEO Group employees to an
appointment at Jackson Memorial Hospital when he hurled himself from the
eighth story of a parking garage, the Miami Herald reported. A GEO Group
employee should have stayed with the man at the first-story hospital
entrance while the driver retrieved the van, DCF said. •In 2010, the U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued GEO Group for allowing sexual
harassment of female employees at two prisons in Florence, Ariz. In one
incident, a male GEO Group manager “grabbed and pinched the breasts and
crotch of a female correctional officer,” the EEOC said. In another
instance, a “female employee was forced onto a desk, where a male GEO
employee shoved apart her legs and kissed her,” the agency claimed. •In
2009, a Texas appeals court upheld a $42.5 million verdict after a prisoner
at a GEO Group facility was beaten to death four days before his release. •
In 2007, Texas canceled an $8 million contract with GEO and closed the Coke
County Juvenile Justice Center. Inspectors found feces on floors and walls,
padlocked emergency exits and overuse of pepper spray on young inmates. A
GEO Group spokesman didn’t comment on the regulatory findings and jury
verdicts, but its defenders chalk up the litany of gripes to the nature of
its business. GEO Group operates in what might be the messiest niche in
American capitalism, an industry where shankings, riots and suicide
attempts are routine. “We’re not talking about members of Congress or Boy
Scouts here,” Robert Wasserman, an analyst at Dawson James in Boca Raton,
said of the stream of complaints. “I think their goal is to operate these
facilities as cleanly as they can.” Critics take a less charitable view of
the company. Bob Libal, executive director of Grassroots Leadership in
Austin, Texas, said he’s astounded that state and federal officials still
do business with GEO Group. “In Texas, GEO Group had an absolute string of
horror stories that resulted in having multiple contracts canceled,” Libal
said. “They’re a very troubled corporation that exemplifies many of the
problems with the for-profit prison industry. It’s mindboggling that
companies like GEO continue to win contracts.” Proponents of private
prisons say for-profit institutions operate more efficiently than public
prisons. “Private prisons are providing quality services—while remaining
cost-efficient and providing significant cost savings,” wrote Geoffrey
Segal, a former adviser to then-Gov. Jeb Bush’s Center for Efficient
Government, in a 2005 report. But some who have studied private prison finances
say the savings are elusive. Florida law says that private prison contracts
must yield savings of 7 percent compared to what the state would have paid
to operate the facility. In a 2008 report, the Florida Office of Program
Policy Analysis & Government Accountability looked at the state’s
private prisons and concluded that operators save money by taking on fewer
“special needs” prisoners with medical problems and mental health issues
that make them expensive to house. “As special needs inmates are more expensive
to serve than other inmates, the difference in the populations of public
and private prisons results in the state shouldering a greater proportion
of the cost of housing these inmates,” the report said. “As a result, the
requirement that the private prisons operate a 7 percent lower cost than
state facilities is undermined.”

March 17, 2009 Sun-Sentinel
A doctor says they need medicine to stop the palpitations, shortness of
breath and the cries of drowning shipmates they hear in their nightmares.
But in a federal lawsuit that echoes the complaints of immigrants detained
across the country, two Brazilian migrants held at the Broward Transitional
Center say they're not getting their prescribed medication. "We meet
with detainees across Florida in jails and detention centers and the
number-one complaint is the lack of medical care," said Cheryl Little,
executive director of the Florida Immigration Advocacy Center. Across the
country, 90 detainees have died in custody in the past four years. One was
the Rev. Joseph Danticat, who died at the Krome Detention Center near Miami
in 2004 when officials took away prescribed medication for high blood
pressure. In a congressional hearing last week, the special adviser to the
Secretary of Homeland Security said the medical care provided to many of
those who died didn't appear to meet Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement standards.

March 5, 2009 AP
Two Brazilian migrants have sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
saying they've been denied mental health care for post-traumatic stress
disorder in a South Florida detention facility since their boat ran aground
last fall. Jaime Miranda and Daniel Padilha were diagnosed with the
disorder by a private physician in December but have not been given prescribed
medications or treatments while being held at the Broward Transition Center
in Pompano Beach, according to lawsuits filed Wednesday in Miami federal
court. Their confinement without medical care has aggravated their mental
health problems, violates their Fifth Amendment rights and mirrors
persecution in Brazil that they sought to escape, the lawsuits state.
"It would be inappropriate for ICE to comment on matters pending
litigation," spokeswoman Nicole Navas said Thursday. Miranda and
Padilha were both aboard a rusty 40-foot boat that ran aground Oct. 31 near
Virginia Key, a small island east of downtown Miami. The boat had departed
days before from the Dominican Republic, where Miranda and Padilha say
traffickers held them for two months against their will, ordered them to
work for the boat driver and forced them aboard a vessel that wasn't
seaworthy. Both men had arrived in the Dominican Republic after fleeing
mistreatment in Brazil; Padilha is gay, and Miranda's father was murdered.
At least six people died after the boat hit a sandbar. Miranda and Padilha
were among five Brazilians and 22 Dominicans detained by ICE. About 10
others were reported missing, but it was unclear if they drowned or made it
ashore and fled. The man who allegedly piloted the boat faces up to 10
years in prison if convicted of federal human smuggling charges. Miranda,
27, and Padilha, 24, persistently relive the accident and have nightmares
in which the dead passengers ask them for food and water, according to the
lawsuits. A doctor hired by their families diagnosed them and prescribed
several medications to treat each man's insomnia, depression, anxiety and
psychotic episodes. However, an officer at the center told Miranda and
Padilha's attorney that the men had not been given the drugs and would need
to be moved to another facility to receive treatment, the lawsuits state.
Miranda and Padilha are seeking release or transfer to a facility that can
provide mental health treatment, in addition to damages for pain and
suffering. Each also seeks asylum to escape torture and persecution in
Brazil, where they say they would not have access to psychological services
if deported. Both men say they are eligible for a special visa granted to
victims of certain crimes who cooperate with investigators because they
provided U.S. law enforcement with names and details about the trafficking
operation that brought them from the Dominican Republic to Florida.
"The government has further victimized Miranda and Padilha by keeping
them in custody without medical treatment despite repeated requests that
they be released to obtain proper medical care and treatment," their
Boston-based attorney, Jeff Ross, said Thursday in an e-mail. "The
decision to keep Miranda and Padilha detained has been a discretionary
decision and they should have been released by the government since they
were cooperating witnesses in a federal case in Miami." The lawsuit
also names the center's warden and the company that manages its operations,
The GEO Group, as defendants. The GEO Group, which provides detention
management services at the Broward Transition Center under contract with
ICE, does not comment on litigation matters, company spokesman Pablo Paez
said Thursday in an e-mail.

Broward Work Release Center, Broward County, FloridaApril 18, 2001A Broward Sheriff's detention deputy at the
county's work-release center was suspended and a Wackenhut employee from
the same facility was arrested after detectives said she went shopping with
someone else's debit card. The deputy gave the card to Gail Forrest, a
job-verification specialist at the work-release center in Pompano Beach,
because she didn't want to get in trouble. Forrest, 34, then drove to
Linens and things in Lighthouse Point where she bought a comforter for
$190.79. She signed the receipt, and left the store. She also tried buying
$211 worth of merchandise at a Boca Raton Wal-Mart. When the card was
denied; she left the store. Forrest, who a Wackenhut spokesperson said had
worked at the center since February 2000, was charged with the fraudulent
use of a credit card, possession of a lost or stolen credit card and
uttering a forged instrument. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

Calipatria, CaliforniaDecember
30, 2005 Imperial Valley Press
The prospect of placing a privately owned and operated prison here has
stirred some local unions and created controversy in the community. Though
no official steps have been taken, a Calipatria City Council public hearing
on the subject sparked vivid discussion Tuesday night. The Geo Group, Inc.
- a private company based in Boca Raton, Fla., that operates more than 50
private correctional facilities nationally - may propose a new prison in
Calipatria, pending a request for proposals from the state Department of
Corrections. The request is expected to come because of a need for more
prisons in California. "State prisons are overcrowded," said Ken
Fortier, a representative from Geo. In an information packet presented to
the City Council, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association
cites several instances where the Geo Group had problems with operation of
its facilities. "What they do is lower the standards of the
corrections profession," said CCPOA representative Ryan Sherman.
"They are responsible to their corporations while state facilities are
responsible to the public." Sherman said employees of private prisons
do not receive proper training to deal with serious felons. Another issue
raised is how the availability of more jobs will affect the community. With
an already high unemployment rate in the county and the need for increased
revenue and property taxes, the private prison could prove a valuable
financial resource. Sherman said Calipatria State Prison has a shortage of
people to fill its positions and a new prison would cut into the pool of
much-needed employees. "We have a couple hundred vacancies, and triple
the pay," he said. "I don't see where Geo is going to get the
people they need." On the flip side, training to become a guard at the
private facility would involve less time than at the state prison, which
would be of benefit to those seeking more immediate position. Yet some
think less training creates a more dangerous situation of unprepared
employees.

Still from Standoff Films:
Campsfield House: An Immigration Removal Centre'When prisons inspectors paid a surprise
visit to Campsfield House immigration lock-up last August they found asylum
seekers living in dirty, overcrowded conditions and torture survivors
locked up in violation of Home Office rules. And they discovered that a
child had been wrongfully imprisoned for 62 days.

Still, their report on
Campsfield, which is run by the outsourcer Mitie, concludes that “overall
this was a very positive inspection”, giving some indication of the
standards expected of the Home Office’s commercial contractors. In their
report, published this week, the inspectors noted that three children were
held at Campsfield between 2012 and 2013 in contravention of government
policy. One boy was assessed by social services as being an adult and held
for 62 days. He was released only after he obtained legal representation
and his solicitor threatened the social services department with a judicial
review. Social workers then made a second assessment and concluded that the
boy was 16 years old. The inspectors said that he “was held by mistake and
should never have been detained”. They said Mitie’s policy on safeguarding
children was “up to date and comprehensive”, but there was no named member
of staff who took the lead on safeguarding children. Mitie told the
inspectors that some staff had “taken an e-learning package” in child
safeguarding, but the company was “unable to provide exact figures”. The
inspectors noted: “A member of staff was to attend training with
Oxfordshire’s local safeguarding children board after our inspection.”
Overcrowding was a problem. “Too many detainees lived in cramped
conditions, with four sharing accommodation designed for two,” the inspectors
wrote. What’s more: “The dining area was not big enough for the number of
detainees using it and hygiene in the kitchen required improvement … The
laundry was not big enough for the population. During our inspection two
washing machines did not work and detainees said this was a regular
occurrence.” Ironically, given that Mitie is best known as a cleaning
company, the report recommended: “Toilets and showers in all residential
units should be deep cleaned … some toilets and showers were very dirty and
needed maintenance ... bed linen was in poor condition and we saw soiled
pillows and mattresses.” Perhaps these problems arose in part from the fact
that Mitie is paying the detainees just £1 per hour to do these jobs. The
inspectors found 24 detainees worked in the dirty kitchen, and in total
“Seventy-four job roles, totalling 1265 hours of paid work per week, were
offered ... Opportunities included cleaning, kitchen and laundry work”. The
inspectors found that asylum-seekers who had suffered torture were being
locked up at Campsfield, in defiance of Home Office rules. Rule 35 of the
Detention Centre Rules (a statutory instrument) requires doctors working in
detention centres to inform the detaining authority of persons who may have
been victims of torture. On receipt of such evidence (in what’s known as a
Rule 35 report), the responsible official is required to consider this
information and release the person. But at Campsfield the screening process
“failed adequately to safeguard the most vulnerable detainees, including
those who had been tortured.” The inspectors found that doctors’ reports
were incomplete, and “did not provide adequate clinical judgements to
inform caseworkers’ decisions”.“In
two separate cases, a doctor stated that a detainee might have been the
victim of torture but caseworkers maintained they should remain in
detention stating that this would not impact on the detainee’s health; the
impact on their health was irrelevant as Home Office policy is not to
detain torture survivors. In another case, a caseworker maintained that a
person should remain in detention because he ‘did not mention being
tortured during your screening interview ….” Healthcare at Campsfield is
provided by The Practice, a private medical company that last year agreed a
“significant financial settlement” with the mother of Brian Dalrymple, an
American tourist with mental health problems who had claimed asylum after
landing in Britain. An inquest jury found that “medical neglect” had
contributed to his death. The inspectors found evidence of short-staffing
at Campsfield: “Only one member of staff was available at night which was
not compliant with current healthcare guidelines”, said the inspectors. And
some staff cut corners. “Nurses had labelled items supplied from stock
inadequately, which could have posed a risk to patients,” the inspectors
said. “A nurse was observed giving a detainee a dose of ibuprofen without
referring to his notes for contraindications, which was potentially
unsafe.” None of the Mitie custody staff had been trained to use the
defibrillator, a life-saving piece of equipment if detainees have heart
attacks, which happens from time to time on the ‘detention estate’. The
inspectors reported that legal support for detainees in Campsfield was
insufficient: “Too many detainees who required an immigration lawyer did
not have one.” The half-hour legal aid sessions were “oversubscribed”, and
there was not enough advice about bail. Perhaps inevitably then, inspectors
found: “Some detainees were detained for unreasonable periods of time. Home
Office caseworkers sometimes failed to act with reasonable diligence and
expedition.” It took the Home Office more than seven months before they
even interviewed one detainee about his asylum claim. One undocumented Iranian
man had been held for almost ten months, although the Home Office had no
clear plans to obtain the paperwork needed to deport him to Tehran. The
inspectors concluded: “There was little prospect of this case being
resolved within a reasonable period and ongoing detention therefore
appeared illegitimate.” For all that, Nick Hardwick, the chief inspector,
concluded: “Overall, this was a very positive inspection. Staff and
managers at Campsfield House should be congratulated in dealing
professionally and sensitively with detainees who were going through what,
for many, was a difficult and unhappy time.” Among problems the report
neglects to mention are the fire at Campsfield in October 2013 that spread
thanks to an absence of sprinklers causing 180 people to be evacuated. The
mass hunger-strikes by detainees, most recently in May 2014, just months
before the inspection, are also absent. The inspectors did not attribute
blame to Mitie, focusing instead on reforms needed at the national level by
the Home Office.

October 5, 2011 Oxford MailEFFORTS to improve conditions for detainees at Campsfield House
immigration removal centre have stalled, according to inspectors. Chief
Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said not enough had been done to deal
with problems – particularly in healthcare and education – raised by his
predecessor Dame Anne Owers after an inspection of the UK Borders Agency
centre in Kidlington two years ago. His officials made an unannounced
three-day inspection in May, shortly before operation of the centre – which
houses about 200 people – passed from Geo Group to Mitie on May 30. The
inspectors praised the way newly-arrived detainees were supported, said
detainees felt safe and there was little bullying or use of force, noted
relationships between staff and detainees were satisfactory, work placement
arrangements had improved and access to phones and email was good. But they
said there were “significant weaknesses in healthcare services”, education
provision had not improved, decisions to place detainees in the separation
unit were not always properly authorised and better interpreting services
were needed, along with more notices in foreign languages.

August 5, 2011 The Guardian
Separate investigations into three deaths in immigration removal centres
(IRC) in the past month have been launched by the police, amid growing
concern about the treatment of detainees. The spate of deaths has caused
alarm among critics of the government's detention policy, who warn that the
system is at "breaking point" with poor healthcare putting
people's lives at risk. Two men died from suspected heart attacks at
Colnbrook near Heathrow airport and the third killed himself at the
Campsfield House detention centre in Oxfordshire on Tuesday. John
McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, who has two detention
centres including Colnbrook in his constituency, said he feared there would
be more deaths as the system struggled to cope with the number of people
being detained. "The government is now detaining people on such a
scale that the existing services are swamped," he said. "It is
inevitable if we put the services under such relentless strain that there
will be more deaths as a result … we are dealing with people who are
extremely stressed and extremely vulnerable and the services are not able
to cope and not able to guarantee their safety." The first man who
died was Muhammad Shukat, 47, a Pakistani immigration detainee who
collapsed at around 6am on 2 July. His roommate Abdul Khan says that in the
hours before he died Shukat was groaning in agony, had very bad chest pains
and was sweating profusely. Khan, 19, from Afghanistan, said he began
raising the alarm around 6am and pressed the emergency button in the room
10 times in a frantic effort to get help. Khan claimed that on three
occasions members of the centre's nursing team entered the room and found
Shukat on the floor where he had collapsed. Khan said they put him back
into bed, took his temperature and some medicine was administered, but did
not call emergency assistance immediately. According to Khan, the nurses
initially said that Shukat could go to see the centre's doctor at 8am.
According to the London Ambulance Service, Colnbrook staff called an
ambulance just before 7.20am. Attempts were made to resuscitate Shukat, but
he was pronounced dead on arrival at Hillingdon Hospital. A postmortem
found the provisional cause of death to be coronary heart disease. Shukat's
body has been returned to Pakistan and his family are understood to have no
concerns about the medical treatment he received. The second man to die at
Colnbrook has not yet been named. According to the Metropolitan police he
was 35 and was found dead in his cell at 10.30am last Sunday. London
Ambulance Service officials pronounced him dead at the scene. "A
postmortem held on 1 August found the cause of death to be a ruptured
aorta. The death is being treated as unexplained," said a police
spokesman. Colnbrook IRC is managed by Serco. In a statement to detainees
about Shukat's death, deputy director at Colnbrook, Jenni Halliday,
described her "deep regret" and extended her condolences. In a
statement to detainees about the second Colnbrook death, Serco's contract
manager, Michael Guy, informed detainees that a resident in the short-term
holding facility had died and that the death was thought to be from natural
causes. On Tuesday, a 35-year-old man hanged himself in the toilet block at
Campsfield House detention centre in Oxfordshire. A fellow detainee, who
refused to give his name, said the man had been hours away from being
deported and had become very anxious. "He was normally a very quiet
person … but the pressure is too much for people in here." It is
understood the man had only been at the centre for a few days before he
died. The Home Office refused to give any more details saying his extended
family had yet to be informed. Emma Ginn, from the campaign group Medical
Justice, said the deaths had heightened concern about the poor healthcare
on offer to those being kept in UK detention centres. "Based on
medical evidence from many hundreds of detainees, Medical Justice has
documented the disturbingly inadequate healthcare provision that often
vulnerable immigration detainees are subjected to in Colnbrook and other
immigration removal centres... [this] combined with the perilous and
frightening conditions of detention, is a lethal cocktail, a disaster
waiting to happen." The UK Border Agency declined to comment on the
specific circumstances of each case. It said the police and the Prisons and
Probation Ombudsman always investigated deaths in immigration detention
centres and it would be inappropriate to comment until these were complete.
David Wood, director of criminality and detention at the UK Border Agency,
said all detainees at immigration removal centres have access to health
services seven days a week. "All detainees are seen by a nurse within
two hours of arrival and are given an opportunity to see a GP within 24
hours," he added. "The health of all detainees is monitored
closely, and the healthcare professionals are required to report cases
where it is considered that a person's health is being affected by
continued detention. "The UK takes its responsibilities seriously,
which is why we consider every case on its individual merits and will continue
to offer protection to those who need it. However, detention is an
essential part of our controls on immigration in the UK." A
groundbreaking ruling -- A man with severe mental illness was unlawfully
locked up in a UK detention centre for five months and subjected to inhuman
or degrading treatment, according to a high court ruling. The man, a
34-year-old Indian national, was detained in Harmondsworth immigration
removal centre between April and September last year. On Friday a judge
ruled that his treatment amounted to a breach of article 3 of the European
convention human rights. The man's lawyer said the ruling – thought to be
the first of its kind – raised wider questions about how the government
treats people with mental illnesses in the immigration and detention
system. "The court's decision that my client suffered inhuman or
degrading treatment at a UK detention facility sends a very loud and clear
message to the authorities," said. "We would urge the minister to
conduct a fundamental review into how people suffering from mental illness
are treated in the immigration detention estate." The man, referred to
as "S" in the ruling, had a history of serious ill treatment and
abuse before arriving in the UK. He served time in prison for wounding and
assault before being transferred to a secure psychiatric hospital until his
discharge in April 2010. Following his release the UK Border Agency said
there was "no evidence" he was mentally ill and he was detained
in Harmondsworth where his health deteriorated and he began to have
psychotic episodes and self harm. The high court intervened and he was
released on bail. His lawyers said he had been living with his family since
then and had fully complied with the conditions of bail set by the court.
In the ruling judge David Elvin said: "S's pre-existing mental
condition was both triggered and exacerbated by detention and that involved
both a debasement and humiliation of S since it showed a serious lack of
respect for his human dignity. It created a state in S's mind of real
anguish and fear, through his hallucinations, which led him to self-harm
frequently and to behave in a manner which was humiliating…" A UK
Border Agency spokesperson said: "We regularly review our detention
policies and will look at the findings in this case to ensure lessons are
learned. Detention is an essential part of our immigration control but we
recognise the importance of ensuring it remains appropriate on a case by
case basis."

August 3, 2011 BBC
A man has died whilst being held at the Campsfield House Immigration
Removal Centre in Oxfordshire. The BBC received a call from a fellow
detainee claiming an Asian man had hanged himself in the showers on 2
August. A spokesperson from the UK Border Agency confirmed a man had died
at the privately run centre and was in the process of contacting his
family. The Police and Prisons and Probation Ombudsman are investigating
the death.

August 3, 2010 Daily Mail Reporter
More than 100 men being held at an immigration centre are on hunger strike
today. The detainees last night refused their evening meal at the
Campsfield House immigration removal centre in Kidlington, Oxfordshire.
Officials at the UK Border Agency confirmed they were 'monitoring' the
situation. Jonathan Sedgwick, UKBA deputy chief executive, said: 'We can
confirm 108 detainees have refused prepared meals from staff yesterday
evening. 'However they still have access to food from the on-site shop and
vending machines. 'Staff are monitoring the situation closely and listening
to the detainees' concerns. 'All detainees have access to legal
representation and 24-hour medical care.' Earlier this year a report by HM
Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers found that the average lengths of
stay for detainees at Campsfield appeared to be increasing. It also found
that some detainees were effectively being held indefinitely because there
was little prospect of removal, while education provision was poor,
particularly for the significant numbers of long-stay detainees and those
with little English. Campsfield is 'a long-term centre where detainees are
accommodated, pending their case resolutions and subsequent removal from
the United Kingdom.' The site has 216 beds for male detainees and is run by
contractor The GEO Group Ltd.

March 10, 2010 BBCSome detainees held at Campsfield House immigration centre in
Oxfordshire are being detained for "excessive periods", according
to an inspector's report. Dame Anne Owers, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
(HMCIP), said the centre near Kidlington was making progress. But the inspector
expressed concern that average lengths of stay appeared to be increasing
and a lack of data obscured the scale of the problem. The UK Borders Agency
(UKBA) said it reviewed detention frequently. Campsfield House, run by GEO
Group Ltd, has had an unsettled recent history, with a number of
high-profile incidents and escapes.

May 18, 2009 Oxford MailDISTURBANCES at Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre could be
reduced if detainees were given more to do, an independent body has
claimed. Campsfield’s Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) has just published
its 2008 annual report on the controversial Kidlington centre, which has a
history of escape attempts and violent incidents. IMB chairman Lieutenant
Colonel Freddie Cantrell said: “We believe that activities and education
should be increased to fully occupy the detainees. “There is nothing worse
than boredom with a detainee who really doesn’t know what his future is
going to be. “This can cause stress, and stress can lead to trouble and
disturbances.” Lt Col Cantrell — one of 10 IMB volunteers who check on
treatment of inmates at the centre — said detainees currently had 30 hours
of formal education a week, including lessons in English, art and
computing, which was insufficient.] He recommended the UK Border Agency
review its contract for education provision at the centre, which holds up
to 216 detainees. The 61-page report also shed new light on two major
incidents which occured within days of each other in June last year. On
June 16, friends of a Jamaican man who was due to be deported started fires
in an education block, detainees’ rooms and in a fitness suite. The
education block was destroyed and a shop was looted. Three days later,
seven detainees escaped through a ground-floor window. Three of those who
went on the run are still at large. Referring to the escape, Lt Col
Cantrell said: “Of course it shouldn’t happen. “It means there is a
weakness in the security. Of course that has been rectified.” But he added:
I don’t think any establishment in the world is completely secure.” Other
findings included a plan to put televisions in each detainee’s room within
months, and the fact that paid work for inmates had doubled since the 2007
report was published. The report said force was used by staff 34 times in
2008, up from 31 in 2007, but the occupancy was higher and as such there
was a reduction in the proportion of incidents where force was used.
Handcuffs were used 11 times in 2008, the lowest level at the centre since
2005. The IMB also recommended ensuring detainees’ property travelled with
them when they were transferred from police custody to the centre, and
reviewing the way racial complaints were investigated. A UK Border Agency
spokesman said detainees had access to a range of activities, and added the
agency awaited recommendations from a review of education provision. No-one
at GEO Group UK Ltd, which runs the centre, was available for comment.

December 3, 2008 Oxford MailFailed asylum seekers at Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre
used the Internet to access “inappropriate content” on the web, it has
emerged. A report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) revealed
the centre’s 200 plus detainees were accessing the worldwide web for up to
an hour a day, but “despite controls, arrangements to block access to
inappropriate content were not always effective”. Last night, a spokesman
for HMIP could not detail the nature of the inappropriate content, and
chief inspector of prisons Anne Owers was unavailable for interview. However,
Ms Owers released a statement which read: “Email and Internet access is an
important, and cheap, way for detainees to keep in contact with the outside
world and relatives overseas. It is, however, important to ensure that
access is controlled. “The point of the comment in the report is that there
was a system of visual and spot checks at Campsfield, but the most
effective way of ensuring that access is consistently controlled, which we
have observed in other centres, is either to have a filtering system, or
for staff to have a monitoring screen on which they can see exactly what
all detainees are accessing.” Detainees first began surfing the web in
December last year and there were plans to create an Internet cafe, HMIP
revealed. Inspectors compiled the report after an unannounced four-day
inspection of Campsfield House, near Kidlington, in May this year. The
centre had “returned to normal” following a series of “major disturbances”
in 2007, which included two riots and a breakout by 26 detainees, the report
said. However, the inspection took place a month before another outbreak of
violence and the escape of seven more detainees, and those incidents were
not mentioned. Inspectors also found detainees were given pay-as-you go
mobile phones on arrival at the centre, which the Home Office said were
returned whenever a detainee was removed. The report found there was little
evidence of bullying. The report also showed that the average length of
detention had more than tripled, from 14 days in December 2006 to 46 days.
Bill McKeith, of the Campaign to Close Campsfield, said: “The overall
flavour of the report is quite critical. The Government claim it is a
removal centre. A removal centre is a place where people are placed briefly
before they are removed — and 46 days is not a brief stay.” A spokesman for
the UK Border Agency would not be drawn on Mr McKeith’s claims, and did not
issue a reaction to the report. Nobody was available for comment at GEO
Group UK Ltd, which runs the centre. The inspectors also recommended an
investigation as to why there had been a 37 per cent turnover of custody
officers in 12 months. The report also gave a detailed breakdown of the
nationalities and ages of the 202 detainees.

August 14, 2008 BBCThirteen Iraqi Kurds began fasting on Saturday in protest against
deportation and reports an Iraqi man killed himself after being deported
from the UK. The Home Office said the situation was "under
control" and no-one had collapsed from lack of food. The BBC has
learned about 46 people refused their evening meal on Wednesday. Some of
the hunger-strikers are also protesting against conditions at the centre.
Earlier, Algerian detainee and Aston University student, Redouane
Messaoudi, 32, told BBC News he would starve for as long as it took. He said
he came to the UK nearly 10 years ago and is married to a British woman,
and lives with her and two young children in Birmingham. "I am at
university, I've paid so much money, I have been working so hard to manage
my life between the family and studies," he said. Dashty Jamal,
general secretary of the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees, said
the detainees were "victims of war and violence" in Iraq.
"They are not a criminal, they are civilians," he said.
"They arrived in this country because they didn't have any other
choice." Campsfield House, which holds some 200 asylum seekers and
foreign prisoners, has been the subject of a campaign to close it. The
Campaign to Close Campsfield group said other detainees joined the strike
in protest over conditions at the centre, where they said they were being
"treated like animals". The GEO Group, which runs the site for
the government, declined to comment.

June 19, 2008 TelegraphFour detainees are on the run after escaping from a controversial
immigration centre that has been the scene of much unrest. Seven people
initially broke out of the facility although three were recaptured by
police shortly after the alarm was raised at 4 am. The break-out happened
just five days after a fire at the Campsfield immigration detention centre
in Oxfordshire. The blaze was in a communal room at the centre on Saturday
afternoon and around 20 detainees staged a rooftop protest. At the time,
detainees said tensions began simmering among Jamaican inmates at the
215-man detention centre when staff brought dogs into their accommodation.
In August last year 26 detainees escaped from the centre in a mass
break-out. A Thames Valley police spokesman said that officers remained on
the scene supporting the Home Office in their efforts to bring the
situation under control. Superintendent Howard Stone said police were also
working with the GEO Group UK Ltd, which controls the privately run centre
on behalf of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. "We are
working with GEO as well as the UK Border Agency to ensure everything is
done to locate the missing detainees as quickly as possible," he said.
"However, I would ask that if members of the public see anyone acting
suspiciously and believes they may have been involved in this incident to
contact the police immediately." GEO signed a three year contract with
the Home Office to run the centre in March 2006 with an option to extend it
until 2011. A GEO spokesman said: "Yes, it is correct there has been
another outbreak at the detention centre. We know who the escaped detainees
are and the police are now working to recapture them."

June 14, 2008 Daily Mail
A special prison service riot unit known as the Tornado Team was sent into
a controversial detention centre yesterday to quell a violent stand-off
between staff and illegal immigrants awaiting deportation. The 50 elite
officers – dressed in Robocop-style black boiler suits and helmets and
carrying batons and shields – marched into the Campsfield centre near
Kidlington, Oxfordshire, after an initial disturbance when several fires
were started. Crews from 15 fire engines tackled the blazes which caused
thick black smoke to billow from one of the detention buildings. The
Tornado Team was supported by about 50 police officers – some, equipped
with riot gear and dogs, entered the camp while others secured the
perimeter as a police helicopter hovered overhead. All the 200 inmates were
herded into the camp’s exercise yard while fire crews took two hours to put
out the blazes and make the area safe. But the detainees, all men, then
refused to return to their buildings – creating another stand-off. At one
point the illegal immigrants could be heard violently hammering on the 25ft
high steel fence that surrounds the yard. A senior prison officer said
outside: ‘No one in there is going anywhere.’ The Home Office said last
night: ‘The UK Border Agency asked police for assistance and officers have
secured the perimeter, which has not been breached. 'Specially trained
prison officers known as a Tornado Team have been sent to the site in riot
gear.’ Last August, 26 detainees escaped from Campsfield after a fire was
started. But last night all the men were believed to have been accounted
for. Tornado Team members are picked from serving prison officers and undergo
four months of specialist training. Their boiler suits are fire-resistant,
as are their padded gloves and steel-capped Army-style boots. Extra
protection comes from plastic protectors on their forearms and shins. Every
officer carries an American-style PR-24 sidearms baton. It can be used for
defence, held along the forearm, or to attack by using a protruding metal
attachment which can be spun round in confined spaces such as cells or
corridors to keep assailants at bay. As an additional precaution, squad
members wear face protectors to stop flames spreading under their
protective suit. They use personal radios to contact their head at the
scene, who is known as Silver Commander. He in turn takes orders from a
Gold Commander, in charge of the overall operation and based at the Prison
Service headquarters in London. Campsfield has been dogged with controversy
since it was converted from a youth detention centre to handle illegal
immigrants in 1993. Last year alone, there were two other disturbances not including
the breakout. It is run by the UK subsidiary of American company the GEO
Group, which signed a five-year contract in March, 2006. The Home Office
said all the detainees were being escorted back to their accommodation
blocks by 7.30pm. A spokesman added: ‘The situation has calmed down. There
has been no resistance from the detainees to going back to their rooms. The
operation is being wound down at the site.’ A GEO spokesman was unavailable
for comment last night.

June 14, 2008 The TimesInmate disturbances and fires broke out this afternoon at a troubled
immigrant detention centre that has previously suffered riots, blazes and
escapes. Two plumes of smoke rose from the centre in Kidlington,
Oxfordshire. The problems at Campsfield House detention centre, which holds
more than 200 foreign criminals and illegal immigrants, have prompted calls
for its closure. Thames Valley police were called in this afternoon to help
the security teams at the privately-run centre. A police helicopter hovered
above the centre, and the riot squad was put on standby. More than a dozen
fire engines have been attending the fire, and one detainee is said to have
been hospitalised with smoke inhalation. There have been no other injuries
reported at this stage. Campsfield House is managed by the Reading-based
GEO Group UK Ltd, on behalf of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.
It has been beset with problems since it opened, and detainees rioted twice
last year. In March, fires were started and CCTV cameras smashed, after a
detainee was removed for deportation. Seven staff and two inmates were
injured. A fire in August allowed 26 inmates to escape - eight of them were
still at large at last report. All the escapees were foreign criminals,
awaiting deportation. In December, staff were forced to evacuate a block,
again after a detainee was removed. Other inmates wrongly believed that the
man, Davis Osagie from Benin in West Africa, had been murdered by prison
officers. Authorities moved 128 inmates to other detention centres after
December’s riot. David Pitman, who lives down the street from Campsfield,
said he saw smoke coming from the detention centre and heard the inmates
shouting. “This seems to happen more and more often,” he said. “Last time
there was trouble and the police hadn’t arrived on the scene so I had to
chase one of the escapees with a torch. “I have a young daughter and I
worry for her safety with these criminals running around free. Something
needs to be done about the security in there.” The centre’s independent
monitoring board criticised GEO for failing to prevent the rioting, despite
being warned after the first clash that the rioting could happen again. An
audit report this year, commissioned by the Border and Immigration Agency,
disclosed racism and tension in some of the country’s 10 immigration
detention centres. It found that officers at several centres had taunted
detainees - describing them as “black bastards” in one case - and found
“turbulent” atmosphere in some units. At Campsfield, it said, there was a
“tense” environment atmosphere where staff were afraid of detainees. One
member of staff said: “If this was white British people in here we would be
a lot stricter, it is because they are black people that we are afraid.”

November 26, 2007 Oxford MailDetainees at an immigration detention centre near Oxford have warned
the atmosphere is on a knife-edge as campaigners marked its 14th
anniversary. While protesters rallied outside Campsfield House, detainees
spoke of a tense atmosphere and warned of a new riot. Speaking to the
Oxford Mail from inside the centre in Kidlington, detainee Michael Sinclair
said: "People are not getting any justice in here. They have been
talking about a riot. "People have been plotting. I am frightened
because you never know what will happen - it is very dangerous."
Father-of-five Mr Sinclair, whose mother lives in Blackbird Leys, came to
Oxford from Jamaica in 1999. He met his wife, who lives in East Oxford with
three of his children, in 2003 but was unsuccessful in securing a spouse's
visa and returned to Jamaica to re-apply. His visa was refused again, and
desperate to see his wife and children, he returned to Britain on a false
passport but was caught and jailed in March. The 41-year-old has been
detained in Campsfield House since October and is currently facing
deportation. Fellow detainee Rohan Walker, 27, said: "People are not
getting any justice." When asked if he thought another riot was
likely, he said: "People have been talking about that. You never know
when it could happen." Around 50 demonstrators from the Campaign to
Close Campsfield staged a two hour protest outside the centre on Saturday
afternoon. The group chanted and listened to speeches. Member Bob Hughes,
60, said the centre was on the verge of serious unrest. The university
lecturer, from St Clements, Oxford, said: "It is continuously on the
boil. As far as we know the conditions are dreadful." Mr Hughes said
the anniversary of the centre, which opened on November 23, 1993, made the
current situation particularly troubling. Neither The GEO Group UK, which
runs the centre, or the Home Office, were available for comment.

August 7, 2007 The Times
Ministers were warned less than two weeks ago that an immigration centre
from which 14 men are on the run was unsuitable for holding them. They were
also told that the policy of putting foreign prisoners in immigration
centres “bursting at the seams” presented a high risk that could trigger
disorder. Fourteen foreign prisoners are on the run after fleeing from
Campsfield House immigration removal centre during the second outbreak of
rioting on the premises in five months. The convicted prisoners, who were
among 26 who escaped from the centre run by GEO Group UK, had served
sentences in jails but were being held in the centre near Oxford while
awaiting deportation. It emerged yesterday that officials from the Home
Office had met detainees at the centre last Wednesday and Friday to discuss
their grievances, including overcrowded and squalid conditions, a high
rejection rate for bail applications and delays in repatriating migrants
who wish to go home. But at 10.30pm on Saturday a fire broke out in a
portable building at the centre where food is prepared. The detainees took
advantage of the disorder to break out of the centre but 12 were recaptured
soon afterwards, including a Bangladeshi who approached the home of a
prison officer and asked to be hidden. Explaining that the search for the
missing men has been scaled down, a Thames Valley Police spokesman said:
“We have not got large numbers of officers on the ground searching for them
any more. [But] we are still looking for them and their identities have
been circulated to all forces.” A report into the earlier disturbance at
the centre highlighted the risk that the Home Office was running by placing
prisoners in immigration centres, which have much lower security than
prisons. “The impact of foreign national prisoners is the biggest external
issue affecting Campsfield House. It is putting the centre under great
strain,” the report by Bob Whalley, a former Home Office senior civil
servant, said. At the end of May more than 50 per cent of the 198 detainees
in the centre were foreign prisoners. The inquiry report cautioned: “The
fabric is not suitable for foreign national prisoners. It has none of the
strength of a prison, nor does it offer any flexibility for dealing with
difficult incidents or detainees.” Staff had complained of the large influx
of foreign prisoners, “many with serious criminal backgrounds and
‘streetwise’ in their experience of prison”, the report said. It added that
little was known about many foreign prisoners who arrived at immigration
centres. After serving time in jail many of the prisoners found the more
relaxed regime at Campsfield House disorientating. The report said that
some became manipulative or bullying. It cautioned: “Some will find the
dual pressure of further time in custody and uncertain date of release
frustrating, to the extent that, ‘with nothing to lose’, the temptation to
join in gratuitous disorder may prove too much. A concentration of
discontented detainees may prove so volatile that an otherwise innocuous
event may prove a trigger point for concerted disturbance.” The report
said: “There are several groups of foreign national prisoners presenting
high risk in terms of potential for disorder. There is little to inhibit
them if an opportunity to engage in wanton disorder presents itself. The
greater their frustration at the position, the greater the risk of
disorder.” Damian Green, the Tory immigration spokesman, attacked the
Government for putting foreign prisoners who were awaiting deportation into
immigration removal centres. “We need immigration detention centres as part
of the process of removing people who have no right to be here, but what we
shouldn’t be doing is mixing up immigration offenders with other criminals,
and that’s where the big failure lies.” Lin Homer, chief executive of the
Border and Immigration Agency, said: “We have recently looked at the regime
in Campsfield and we are putting in place a number of improvements with the
centre operator.” Troublespot -- 1993 Campsfield centre opens 1997 50
detainees take part in disturbance 2001 90 go on
hunger strike 2002 David
Blunkett, then Home Secretary, announces its closure 2003 Decision
reversed after riot at another detention centre 2004 Local
council rejects plans to expand Campsfield to hold 300 2006 GEO Group
wins five-year contract to run Campsfield March 2007
Disturbance as staff try to remove Algerian for deportation. Sixty
detainees transferred out because of the damage August 2007
Disturbances and 26 detainees flee. Twelve recaptured and 14 still on the
run Source: Times database

August 3, 2007 BBC
Detainees at an Oxfordshire detention centre are suspending their ongoing
hunger strike while they wait for a response from the Home Office. More
than 150 detainees at Campsfield House Immigration Centre near Kidlington
in Oxford have been refusing to eat since Tuesday night. They have
complained to officials about the overcrowded conditions and claimed they
are being held illegally. The Home Office said it would respond to concerns
by Friday afternoon. Campsfield was rife with scabies, but only staff were
issued with gloves. Campaign to Close Campsfield -- In a statement, the
Campaign to Close Campsfield also said the centre "is a health hazard
with 70% of people infected with flu". "Paracetamol is the only
medicine made available and two weeks ago even this ran out.
"Campsfield was rife with scabies, but only staff were issued with
gloves. "Although detainees are held as civil detainees, not convicted
prisoners or prisoners on remand, food, toilets and showers are a lot worse
than in prisons." It said some detainees were being held even though they
had won appeals against deportation or had agreed to go back to their
countries of origin. Troubled history -- On Wednesday, the Home Office
promised it would respond to the concerns within 48 hours. Formerly a Young
Offenders Institute, Campsfield was converted into an immigration detention
centre in 1993 amid a storm of protest from local residents. Run by the
American company GEO, which specialises in operating detention facilities,
Campsfield holds up to 200 male asylum seekers at a time. Within six months
of opening the centre experienced a major problem when six asylum seekers
escaped following a rooftop protest. A number of low-level disturbances
inside the centre and regular public protests outside its gates has since
occurred at Campsfield.

March 16, 2007 Oxford MailStaff are counting up the costs at Campsfield House immigration
detention centre after detainees ran riot and started a fire. About 60
detainees were moved to other detention centres, including Yarl's Wood in
Bedfordshire, on Wednesday night. Anti-Campsfield campaigners claim the
revolt at the centre, in Kidlington, was sparked when an Algerian detainee
was removed from his room for deportation. Police are investigating the
fire as suspected arson. A former member of staff, in his 20s, who asked
not to be named, praised former colleagues who he said tried to tackle the
fire at the centre at 6.30am on Wednesday, before firefighters arrived. He
said: "They kicked windows out and tried to tackle the fire
themselves. "I spoke to one of the seven members of staff who needed
hospital treatment and he told me that there has been serious damage to
blue block and yellow block and the library has been destroyed. "Only
about 30 detainees kicked off, but it will cost hundreds of thousands of
pounds to put the damage right. "The ironic thing is that the GEO
group that runs the site has been getting detainees to paint internal areas
and blue block has only just been painted." The former worker claimed
that more than 190 detainees were housed in an area which mean for 130 and
that it was not 'fit for purpose'. Oxford West and Abingdon MP Evan Harris
said: "There will need to be an investigation of why there has been
yet another serious disturbance at Campsfield House, which has been a
subject of a number of critical reports by successive chief inspectors of
prisons." Dr Harris, a member of the House of Commons select committee
on human rights, added: "My select committee is already conducting an
inquiry into detention of failed asylum seekers, following concerns about
physical abuse during removals. "The Home Secretary himself a few
years ago declared that Campsfield House was not appropriate for the 21st
century, but then of course the Government decided to keep it open anyway.
They will need to look at that question again."

March 14, 2007 BBCSeven staff and two inmates have been injured in a fire after a riot
broke out at an immigration removal centre. Emergency services were called
to deal with the incident at Campsfield removal centre near Kidlington, in
Oxfordshire, early on Wednesday. A BBC reporter saw a dozen riot officers
carrying shields enter the centre to join about 35 police officers who were
dealing with the incident. The nine injured people are thought to be
suffering from smoke inhalation. The seven immigration staff at the centre
and two detainees have been taken to hospital. A Home Office spokesman said
the riot teams were working to get the centre completely under control as
soon as possible. "The perimeter of Campsfield has not been breached
and all detainees have been accounted for," he added. They used force
to drag the person from the bed and after that everything kicked off.
Campsfield detainee: In a statement Thames Valley Police said: "The
detainees were evacuated and nine people have been taken to hospital
suffering from smoke inhalation. No serious injuries have been reported.
"The fire has now been extinguished. Five fire engines and 30
firefighters attended the incident. The fire was relatively small and
mainly generated a lot of smoke." 'Fighting stopped': A detainee, who
did not want to be named, told BBC News 24: "This place is falling
apart - computers are getting smashed. "They've stopped fighting now
but they're destroying every bit of equipment they can find - computers getting
smashed, shops are getting broken into, they're stealing everything."
"They used force to drag the person from the bed and after that
everything kicked off," he said. Sarah Cutler from Bail for
Immigration Detainees, which provides workshops at Campsfield offering
legal advice to detainees, said she was not surprised by the disturbance.
"There are big problems at the moment," she said, adding that
many people were being held for months. Riot gear: Those included
"people who want to go back to their country of origin, have told the
Home Office they want to go back, but are still detained because they can't
get it together to remove them". A Home Office spokeswoman said the
continuing incident began at 0630 GMT. BBC reporter Rajesh Mirchandani,
speaking outside the centre, said he had seen members of a prison service
fast response team enter the site. "They're riot trained and they went
in carrying riot gear." He said he could see a helicopter hovering
overhead and police dog units and mounted police were now patrolling the
perimeter of the centre. The Home Office spokeswoman said: "Police,
fire and ambulance teams are on the scene and a number of Tornado units
from the Prison Service have been deployed to the centre." Campsfield
can hold 196 adult male detainees, but it is not known how many are
currently being held there.

July 22, 2006 The IndependentA Kurdish teenager killed himself after spending more than four months
in an immigration detention centre, an inquest has heard. Ramazan Kumluca,
18, is the youngest asylum-seeker to have committed suicide while facing
deportation from Britain. Campaign groups yesterday called for the closure
of all detention centres, comparing them to Victorian workhouses. Mr
Kumluca is one of more than 30 asylum-seekers who have killed themselves in
the past five years after being told their applications had failed. He had
travelled from his home in Turkey to Italy and then on to Britain where he
claimed asylum last year, saying that his life was in danger over a £20,000
debt owed by his father. He also claimed that if he was sent back to Italy
(under rules that asylum must be claimed in the first safe country reached)
he was at risk of exploitation. Mr Kumluca was refused asylum and denied
bail because there were fears he would not report back for deportation. He
was sent to Campsfield House in Oxfordshire, an immigration removal centre
that holds around 100 men at any time. The average stay for detainees at
the centre is 14 days, but because the teenager was fighting his
deportation order he was held for four and a half months. An inquest at
Oxford Old Assizes heard he had been plunged into despair during his
incarceration and had complained of insomnia, headaches and anxiety. A
fellow inmate, Abdulwase Kamali, told the court Mr Kumluca had appeared
"sad" the day before he killed himself. He said: "Ramazan
said he had been told by immigration he would be sent back to Italy, and he
said if he was sent back to Italy he would be used in sex films. He said he
would slash himself or hang himself." On 27 June last year, Mr Kamali
and other Muslim detainees alerted warders after calling Mr Kumluca for
morning prayers and finding his door would not open. He was found hanging
from the door closing mechanism. After investigating his death, a Prison and
Probation ombudsman cleared staff of any wrongdoing. The jury returned a
verdict of suicide. Outside the court, Bob Hughes, of the pressure group
Campaign to Close Campsfield, said: "Here we have an institution full
of people being driven deliberately to despair by government policy."
"He added: "We believe these people should be allowed to get on
with their own lives. Centres like Campsfield are a huge national scandal
and shame. Campsfield House has been a removal centre since 1993 and is
privately run by the company Global Solutions Limited. In 2002, the then
Home Secretary David Blunkett pledged that the centre would be closed, but
a year later it was decided to keep it open and expand the number of
places. Since 2000, at least 25 asylum-seekers have killed themselves while
living in the community after being told they would be deported. Mr Kumluca
was the seventh to have committed suicide in a detention centre. More than
2,600 adults and children are being held in detention centres prior to
deportation. In January this year another asylum-seeker Bereket Yohannes,
from Eritrea, was found hanging at Harmondsworth Removal Centre. An inquest
will be held into his death.

June 17, 2006 Indy MediaOn Monday 12th of this week a Somalian man went onto a roof at
Campsfield; he had been detained for four months (probably illegally, since
the government cannot deport people to Somalia) and took a rope and a
plastic bag with him. GEO, the new management at Campsfield, asked the
police to leave and said they would deal with the matter themselves; we do
not know whether they used violence against the Somalian detainee; he has
been removed from Campsfield, no doubt to somewhere even worse as is usual
in these cases. There have been 12 suicides in immigration detention, and
several hundred attempted suicides and cases of self harm requiring medical
treatment. GSL lost the contract to run Campsfield to GEO (Global Expertise
on Outsourcing), presumably on cost grounds. GEO took over at the beginning
of the month. They have changed their name from Wackenhut, and have a
discreditable history of running penal institutions in the USA and
Australia. GSL's manager, Andy Clark, who had been more willing than his
predecessors to allow volunteers and education classes in Campsfield,
decided he could not work with GEO; at least two of the people who ran
education classes and workshops have been sacked or left, and GEO
apparently intends to provide much reduced hours of education (as required
under the contract), run by its own officers. But of course the most
serious problem is not the conditions inside the centre, but the fact that
people are detained there who have committed no crime, been charged or
suspected of no crime, with no judicial process and no time limit, often
with no access to lawyers, and always with great uncertainty about what is
happening to them or about to happen to them.

Central Arizona Correctional Facility,
Florence, ArizonaMar 16, 2016 bna.com GEO Group Fails With Challenge to EEOC ConciliationMarch 14 — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a related
Arizona agency followed proper procedure in suing a prison operator for
unlawful sex discrimination on behalf of a class of female correctional
officers, the Ninth Circuit held March 14. Reversing a lower court, the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that the civil rights
enforcement agencies adequately conciliated with the GEO Group Inc. before
suing the company, as required by federal and state laws. The agencies
described how a class of female prison guards were subjected to
discrimination, harassment and retaliation, and they engaged with the
company in a formal mediation session in an attempt to resolve their
claims. That is all that's required under recent U.S. Supreme Court
precedent, the appeals court said. It also ruled that the EEOC and the
Arizona Civil Rights Division both satisfy their pre-suit conciliation
requirements in class action litigation when they try to conciliate “on
behalf of an identified class of individuals,” as they did here. The
agencies don't need to attempt to conciliate the claim of each class
member, the court said. All potential class members who allege they were
subjected to bias on or after 300 days before the original charging party
filed with the EEOC may participate in the lawsuit, the court added. It
further held that any individual employee isn't required to have filed a
new charge if her allegations are “already encompassed within” the ACRD's
investigative finding, or if it's “like or reasonably related to” the
allegations in the original charge. The decision reaffirms the U.S. Supreme
Court's holding in Mach Mining, LLC v. EEOC, 135 S. Ct. 1645, 126 FEP Cases
1521 (2016), that although EEOC conciliation efforts are subject to court
review, such review is limited. In addition, the Ninth Circuit
joins three other federal appeals courts in holding that the EEOC isn't
required to conciliate each prospective class member's individual claim on
an individual basis prior to filing a class action lawsuit.In a statement to Bloomberg BNA March 14,
EEOC General Counsel P. David Lopez said the commission is “very pleased
with the Ninth Circuit's decision.” He said the ruling “allows the EEOC to
proceed with its claims that twenty female corrections officers experienced
sexual harassment and retaliation while they worked at two prisons operated
by the Geo Group. This ruling means that the victims, who were brave enough
to step forward and participate in the EEOC's lawsuit, will now have their
day in court.”
GEO Group declined to comment March 14 when contacted by Bloomberg BNA.
The original charge in the case was filed by Alice Hancock, a correctional
officer at the Arizona State Prison, Florence West Facility. She alleged
that Sgt. Robert Kroen grabbed her crotch and pinched her vagina and that
GEO Group failed to remedy the harassment after she filed an incident
report. Hancock further alleged that in retaliation, three of her
co-workers complained that she made an offensive comment, causing her to be
suspended without pay for 15 days. She ultimately was fired three months
after filing her discrimination charge. The ACRD investigated Hancock’s
charge and found evidence substantiating her allegations. It also found
evidence that male supervisors had “created an offensive and hostile work
environment based on gender that adversely affected Hancock and a class of
female employees working at the facility,” and that GEO Group didn't take
reasonable measures to prevent and correct the harassment. The state agency
sued in Arizona state court, and the case was later removed to federal
court. The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona granted summary
judgment in favor of GEO Group, and the EEOC and the ACRD appealed. Judge
Consuelo Maria Callahan said the agencies raised four issues on appeal,
including the proper scope of agency conciliation under Title VII of the
1964 Civil Rights Act and the Arizona Civil Rights Act. Also at issue, she
said, were when Title VII’s 300-day limitations period starts to run in an
EEOC class action; whether an aggrieved employee in an EEOC class action is
required to file a new charge of discrimination for acts that occur after
the agency's reasonable cause determination has been issued; and whether
one of the aggrieved employees on whose behalf the agencies sued presented
triable issues of hostile work environment harassment. Finding in favor of
the agencies on all four questions, the Ninth Circuit revived their claims.
On the issue of the proper scope of conciliation, it cited Mach Mining in
finding the agencies' pre-suit efforts were adequate. The EEOC and the ACRD
in the reasonable cause determination sent to the company made reference to
a “class” of female employees who were subjected to discrimination,
harassment and retaliation at the Florence West and another GEO facility.
They also invited GEO Group to conciliate, and during a formal mediation
session, they proposed a settlement that included damages, injunctive
relief and a class fund for unnamed class members, Callahan found. The
appeals court also found support in Mach Mining for its holding that the
EEOC and state agencies satisfy their pre-suit conciliation obligations in
class actions when they try to conciliate on behalf of an identified class
of individuals prior to suing, rather than attempt to conciliate each class
member's claim individually. In Mach Mining, it said, the Supreme Court
ruled that the EEOC is only required to identify what the employer did that
was illegal and which employees or what class of employees were
discriminated against. That conclusion is consistent with the EEOC's broad
enforcement powers as well as prior holdings by the Third, Fourth and Sixth
circuits, Callahan added. The appeals court said the lower court also erred
in finding that the date of the ACRD's reasonable cause determination,
rather than the date of Hancock's charge, was the proper date for measuring
the timeliness of each individual class member's claims. As in class
actions brought by private plaintiffs, the starting date of a class action
is the date the original charging party filed her charge, the Ninth Circuit
ruled. “Nothing in the text of the statute supports the district court’s
imputation of the employee’s time limit into the EEOC’s duty to notify the
employer of the results of its investigation,” Callahan wrote. Judges
Stephen Reinhardt and A. Wallace Tashima joined the opinion.

PHOENIX (CN) - Sexual harassment claims against a private prison company
brought on behalf of female employees by Arizona's attorney general and a
federal agency should be reinstated, the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday. The
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Arizona Law
Department's Civil Rights Division sued the Florida-based Geo Group in 2010
on behalf of a number of its female employees at the Arizona State
Prison-Florence West facility, including Alice Hancock. Hancock, a
corrections officer, claimed she had been subjected to discrimination,
harassment and retaliation by male co-workers who would comment that they
wanted to "ram [them] from behind" and asking them to "suck
[the alleged harasser's] dick."In 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton ruled for Geo,
finding the EEOC and Arizona failed to properly conciliate with Geo. The
judge dismissed several employees who had not committed alleged acts within
300 days of a reasonable cause determination issued by the Arizona Civil
Rights Division, and dismissed the hostile work environment claim of
employee Sofia Hines because the conduct was not sufficiently severe or
pervasive. On Monday, Ninth Circuit Judge Consuelo Callahan wrote for a
three-judge panel that EEOC and the civil rights division properly
attempted to resolve their claims with Geo. "The EEOC and the division
invited Geo to conciliate the matter in their reasonable cause
determinations," Callahan wrote. "Additionally, the EEOC and the
division conveyed a conciliation letter to Geo that outlined a proposal to settle
Alice Hancock's charge of discrimination and the claims of other aggrieved
employees of Geo." Even if the EEOC and the Arizona's Civil Rights
Division did not conciliate, Bolton's dismissal of employee claims was not
proper, the Ninth Circuit ruled. "[T]he appropriate remedy would be a
stay of proceedings to permit an attempt at conciliation, not the dismissal
of the aggrieved employees' claims," Callahan wrote. Callahan also
found that Bolton improperly dismissed the claims of employees who had not
alleged discriminatory acts within 300 days of a reasonable cause
determination by the civil rights division. The proper starting date is 300
days before Hancock's charge, not the reasonable cause determination, she
ruled. "This is evident from the plain language of Title VII that
requires a 'charge' be filed 'within 300 days after the alleged unlawful
employment practice occurred,'" Callahan wrote. According to Callahan,
Bolton's dismissal of Hines' hostile work environment was also incorrect.
Callahan wrote that, while Hines' claims that a male employee of Geo
"made unwanted physical contact with her by 'spank[ing]' her butt in
front of inmates and a cadet" and repeatedly talked dirty to her might
not "in itself be sufficient to support a hostile work environment
claim, their cumulative effect is sufficient to raise material issues of
fact as to whether the conduct was so severe or pervasive to alter the
conditions of the workplace." Callahan ordered Bolton to reinstate the
EEOC and the Arizona Civil Rights Division's dismissed claims. Pablo Paez,
vice president of corporate relations for the Geo Group, declined to
comment on Monday's ruling. A spokeswoman for the Arizona Attorney
General's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment
Monday. Sep 25, 2015 trivalleycentral.com

Florence prison firm sued again
for sex harassment

FLORENCE — A company that
operates a prison in Florence has been sued for the second time regarding
allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation. The GEO Group, which runs
Central Arizona Correctional Facility, allegedly violated federal law by
allowing sexual harassment of a female correctional officer and retaliating
against her for being involved in a previous lawsuit brought by the U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the company for alleged
systemic sexual harassment, according to a news release from the EEOC. The
lawsuit, which was filed today, claims GEO allowed Roberta Jones to be
sexually harassed by its employees and managers since 2007. The EEOC alleges
that some male superior officers and co-workers frequently bragged about
sexual exploits around Jones and that a minimum of two superior officers
touched her in an unwanted manner. Another superior officer is claimed to
have frequently referred to his penis as “Little Jeffie” in her presence.
EEOC also alleges retaliation against Jones tied to a prior lawsuit. That
lawsuit, which is under appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals,
claims GEO subjected Jones to a “coercive investigative interview” and to
multiple disciplinary actions, including termination. The lawsuit seeks
back pay and other monetary damages and compensation for emotional distress
and punitive damages. “Sexual harassment and sexual advances upon women
interferes with their ability to perform their jobs and violates federal
civil rights laws,” EEOC Phoenix regional attorney Mary Jo O’Neill said in
a statement. “Title VII’s proscription against retaliation is one of its
most important protections.” EEOC Phoenix District Director Rayford Irvin
said in a statement that retaliation is the most common claim received by
EEOC, accounting for about 45 percent of total claims. “This seems to be a
growing problem that our federal agency takes very seriously,” he said.
“Workers absolutely have the right to report harassment at work without
negative consequences, and EEOC is here to help.”

Apr 29, 2013
ktar.com

PHOENIX -- Federal authorities
said a prison management group has agreed to pay $140,000 to settle a
sexual harassment lawsuit in Arizona. The Arizona Civil Rights Division and
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced the settlement
Monday involving the GEO Group Inc. The EEOC and ACRD claimed that male
managers at a GEO-managed private prison facility in Florence sexually
harassed numerous female employees and fostered an atmosphere of sexual
intimidation and harassment. They claimed that one prison supervisor at
Florence West routinely made crude, obscene and suggestive sexual remarks
to female employees, often in front of other management officials who
didn't stop the harassment. Florida-based GEO runs more than 100 private
prison facilities across the country. A call to GEO officials for comment
on the settlement wasn't immediately returned Monday afternoon.

October 4, 2010 Arizona Republic
A federal agency filed a lawsuit last week alleging a private company that
operates prisons in Florence sexually harassed and retaliated against
female employees. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's
lawsuit against GEO Group Inc. alleged the company and some male managers
supervising correctional officers fostered a "sexual and sex-based
hostile work environment" at two Florence prisons that allowed
harassment and retaliation against female employees. GEO Group, which
operates and Central Arizona Correctional
Facility in Florence, declined to comment on the EEOC lawsuit. The EEOC
alleges GEO Group was aware but failed to take measures to prevent the
harassment. The EEOC case stems from a harassment complaint that a female
employee filed in June 2009 with the Arizona Civil Rights Division and the
EEOC. The lawsuit alleged the prison operator retaliated against her after
she filed her complaint. The EEOC said the male employees engaged in verbal
and physical harassment of female employees. A male manager grabbed and
pinched a female employee, and a female employee was forced on a desk and
kissed and touched by a male employee, the lawsuit says. The federal agency
reportedly attempted to reach a voluntary settlement with the GEO Group
before filing the lawsuit. The Arizona Attorney General's Office previously
filed suit and investigated complaints against the prison operator. The
EEOC is authorized under federal law to collect compensatory and punitive
damages, which are not available under Arizona law. It was the fourth
discrimination lawsuit announced last week by the EEOC against Arizona
employers. The federal agency also filed lawsuits against a Peoria car
dealership, a Bullhead City Mexican eatery and a Phoenix restaurant. Mary
Jo O'Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC's Phoenix office, said the
agency filed a batch of lawsuits last week due to work-flow issues. Agency
attorneys focused on new cases after they finished other duties such as
trials and filing motions in existing cases.

Central Texas Detention Facility,
San Antonio, TXSep 29, 2018 expressnews.com Ex-jail employee gets 40 months for trying to smuggle drugs insideA former employee of a San Antonio jail that houses federal pretrial
inmates has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for trying to smuggle
drugs to prisoners. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery handed the sentence on
Thursday to Ray Alexander Barr, 30, who worked in the kitchen of the
600-bed Central Texas Detention Facility, which is run by Florida-based The
GEO Group. Barr pleaded guilty last year to attempting to provide
contraband to prisoners. He admitted that on Dec. 27, 2016, he agreed to
smuggle alcohol and crystal methampetamine into the jail in exchange for
money. FBI agents arrested Barr immediately after he accepted payment but
before he could smuggle in the contraband. “This was out of character for
Mr. Barr,” said his lawyer, Derek Hilley. “After his arrest, Mr. Barr took
the bull by the horns and pursued every opportunity to better himself. He
obtained a great job where he could provide for his children and contribute
to society. ... He looks forward to putting this behind him.” The FBI and
U.S. Marshals Service conducted a joint investigation of Barr and other
guards at the jail who also have since pleaded guilty for similar
contraband crimes. “The men and women in law enforcement and detention are
held to a higher standard in our judicial system and our community,” said
U.S. Marshal Susan Pamerleau. The “sentence sends a strong message that
this violation of trust will not be tolerated.” Christopher Combs, special
agent in charge of the FBI in San Antonio, added: “The FBI is committed to
working with our law enforcement partners to ensure employees of
correctional facilities who abuse their authority and violate their
positions of trust for their own personal benefit are held accountable.”

Sep 20, 2018 ksat.com
Ex-GEO guard, boyfriend sentenced to federal prison in drug sting
SAN ANTONIO - A former guard of a private federal detention facility was
sentenced Wednesday to 57 months in federal prison for agreeing to provide
crystal methamphetamine to an inmate, federal officials said. Abigail
Jolynn Abrego, 28, was also sentenced to supervised release for three years
after completing her prison term. Abrego's 55–year–old boyfriend, Leonard
Belmares, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison followed by three
years of supervised release. The two pleaded guilty earlier this year to
one count of attempting to provide contraband in prison. Federal officials
said the pair met with an undercover agent on November 2017 and agreed to
smuggle methamphetamine into the Central Texas Detention Facility, run by
the private prison company GEO, and give it to an inmate in exchange for
$1,500. The defendants also admitted to working together on at least three
previous occasions to smuggle drugs and/or contraband into the facility in
exchange for money, federal officials said. Abrego and Belmares were
ordered by a federal judge to surrender on or before Nov. 30 to begin
serving their prison terms.Sep 19, 2018 ksat.com Guards
illegally used disability placards, plates to park in front of detention
facilitySAN ANTONIO
- An undercover investigation by the KSAT 12 Defenders showed corrections
officers at a downtown detention facility used disability placards and
disabled veteran license plates belonging to other people to park as close
to the building as possible. The investigation also showed that while
guards parked in spots directly in front of the Central Texas Detention
Facility, located in the 200 block of South Laredo Street, people on oxygen
and people using canes and other mobility devices were forced to park in
lots farther west of downtown. The facility, which holds inmates in federal
custody and is run by a private corrections company called the GEO Group,
is located between Public Safety Headquarters and the Bexar County Justice
Center. "It's a severe lack of consideration for fellow human
beings," Melanie Cawthon, executive director of disABILITYsa, said
after reviewing the footage. Cawthon said her nonprofit tries to educate,
advance and engage individuals with disabilities. "By parking in
accessible parking, it protects them from being hit by another vehicle,
from having a heart attack because they are not supposed to walk far or
even just the exhaustion of having a physical or mobility disability,"
said Cawthon, who added that accessible parking is a safety issue, not a
convenience issue. One GEO guard, identified through public records as
JoAnn Campa, was repeatedly seen parking a Camaro with disabled veteran
license plates in metered spots for up to 10 hours per day. The Camaro was
left August 29 in a front-row metered spot as Campa traveled off-site. She
was later dropped off by a sport utility vehicle registered to her husband,
and the vehicle followed Campa as she left for the day. Days later, during
an unplanned interview, Campa admitted the plates belong to her husband.
"If we would just have common decency and common courtesy," said
Cawthon. State law allows vehicles with disabled veterans plates to park in
accessible spots for an unlimited period as long as the vehicle is driven
by the veteran or the veteran is being transported in it. The use of the
plates extends to the spouse of the veteran only after the veteran has
passed away and as long as the spouse remains unmarried. An Austin-based
disability advocate said via email that despite this law, Texas courts have
traditionally extended the parking privileges to family members. "There
are laws in place, but they are not enforced," said Cawthon. A second
guard, identified through public records as Mario Castillo and
coincidentally also driving a late-model Camaro, was captured on camera in
August and September repeatedly using a disability placard to park in front
of the detention facility. On days when no metered spots were available at
the start of his afternoon shift, Castillo was seen parking in the nearby
Bexar County parking garage, then walking without issues while carrying an
equipment belt and backpack. Castillo, when approached for an unplanned
interview, admitted the placard belongs to his mother-in-law. "On
those days, I was assisting my mother-in-law," said Castillo, who
added that he dropped her off before driving to work. When asked if it was
fair that people with disabilities were forced to park farther away while
Castillo took a spot up front, he apologized. "Courtesy-wise, there's
no reason for him to take up an accessible parking spot," said
Cawthon. "Our community needs to work together and solve this issue
for our fellow citizens who have disabilities." "Our company
believes that parking laws and regulations should be observed and complied
with. The parking spaces in question are public and are not within our company's
control or monitoring," GEO Group Executive Vice President Pablo Paez
said via email this month. Paez declined a request for an on-camera
interview and did not respond to a follow-up email asking if Campa and
Castillo would be disciplined. Center City Development and Operations
Department Director John Jacks, whose department handles parking
enforcement, released the following statement: Our Parking Enforcement
Officers do not have the authority to question whether or not an individual
is disabled. According to City ordinance, individuals who have been issued
a disabled permit, placard or plate by the state may park in City-owned
parking facilities or on-street parking meters without paying a fee. A
Bexar County information technology employee was also seen using a
disability placard to park in front of the detention facility. The employee
expressed remorse and said he improperly used the placard because of a lack
of parking downtown, according to a county spokeswoman. The employee is now
using a park and ride bus service to commute to work, the spokeswoman said.
Cawthon encouraged anyone wanting to raise awareness about accessibility
parking issues to download the Parking Mobility app. The app allows users
to report disabled parking abuse. Cawthon said while Bexar County remains
in the data-gathering stage, other communities like Hays County and Travis
County have gotten on board with the app and more than 50,000 citations
have been issued since the app was launched. Two bills that would have made
it more difficult for drivers to use specialty license plates and
accessible parking placards as illegal instruments failed to get passed
during the last legislative session.Jun 14, 2017 ksat.com Former prison guard sentenced for inmate sexSAN ANTONIO - A former prison guard was sentenced Tuesday for having
sex with an inmate at a private prison in downtown San Antonio. Barbara
Jean Goodwin, 35, was sentenced to five months imprisonment to be followed
by five months home confinement. She also was ordered to serve a two-year
supervised-release term and register as a sex offender, federal officials
said in a news release. Goodwin pleaded guilty in March to one count of
sexual abuse of a ward. Goodwin admitted that from February 2016 to August
2016, she engaged in sexual acts with a federal prisoner who at the time
was under her custodial, supervisory or disciplinary authority at the
Central Texas Detention Facility–G.E.O., officials said. She was ordered to
surrender in July to start her prison term.Apr 21, 2015 mysanantonio.com
SAN ANTONIO -- A stabbing between two inmates Monday afternoon at a private
prison facility in San Antonio has left one person with life-threatening
injuries, authorities said. A spokesman with the Bexar County Sheriff's
Office said Monday that one inmate stabbed another around 3:45 p.m. Monday
at the jail, located in the 200 block of S. Laredo St., and that the victim
was taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center with life-threatening
injuries. No further information was immediately available. The Central
Texas Detention Facility is a private jail run by The Geo Group. According
to its website, the facility has a capacity for 688 people, and houses male
and female U.S. Marshal Service prisoners and U.S. Immigration &
Customs Enforcement detainees.

June 11, 2012 San Antonio Express-News
Relatives of an inmate who hanged himself at the privately run Central
Texas Detention Facility have sued Florida-based The GEO Group and its
warden, alleging the federal prisoner was able to kill himself because he
was wrongly taken off suicide watch in December 2011. The lawsuit claims
warden James Coapland was negligent in watching over Darrell Clayton
Delany, 31, and that The GEO Group is liable for the acts of its employees.
The operators of the jail, located in downtown San Antonio, deny the
allegations of the suit, which seeks unspecified damages. Delany was sent
to the jail by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons because he had been unable to
meet the conditions required of him to serve his sentence on drug smuggling
charges at a halfway house, said a court affidavit from Brett Bement, who
preceded Coapland as warden at the jail. Bement's affidavit said that, on
the morning of Dec. 29, 2011 — the day Delany was to be released from the
lockup — he was found hanging in his cell by bed linens and was later
pronounced dead at a San Antonio hospital. He had been on suicide watch
before the incident but had signed a “no-self-harm” agreement and was
removed from suicide watch two days before his suicide, Bement's affidavit
said. The affidavit, filed by lawyers for Coapland, tries to deflect blame
from Coapland, who was the jail's assistant warden at the time. The
affidavit said Coapland did not have the authority to remove inmates from
suicide watch, but does not specify who authorized Delany's removal from
suicide watch. Inmates have frequently complained to federal judges about
conditions at the lockup. And the suit comes as police in Atascosa County
arrested Jack Shane McNeal, a former guard at that lockup, on Thursday on
theft charges unrelated to the Delany incident. McNeal was out on bond,
facing federal charges that he helped members of the Texas Mexican Mafia
smuggle cell phones and heroin and marijuana into the jail.

February 10, 2012 San Antonio Express-NewsTwo members of the Texas Mexican Mafia pleaded guilty Thursday to
charges that they got cellphones and drugs smuggled into a federal jail
with help from a guard. Paul “Polo” Hernandez and Jesse C. “Chuy” Guerra
also pleaded guilty to an extortion and drug-possession charge for their
roles in the gang's enforcement of a 10-percent “street tax” on other drug
dealers in San Antonio. Guerra's cousin Fernando “Klan” Delgado also
pleaded guilty Thursday to a heroin-possession charge. The three were among
12 snared in November 2010 by the San Antonio Police Department and the
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Three of the 12
pleaded guilty last year and were sentenced to prison. Hernandez's plea
deal said he made several phone calls while awaiting trial on drug-related
charges at the Central Texas Detention Facility, a federal jail in San
Antonio run by Florida-based The GEO Group. In the calls, Hernandez
directed his wife to find heroin and a gun he had hidden on his property
that police missed when they raided the couple's home, the plea deal said.
Hernandez also asked his wife to contact another Texas Mexican Mafia member
to let him know that Hernandez had identified three “snitches” who
cooperated with police, the plea deal said. One of the three was later
found murdered, the deal said. Hernandez and Guerra also admitted that they
had four cell phones — three were found on Guerra and one on Hernandez —
and small amounts of marijuana and heroin in the lockup, according to
deputy U.S. Marshal Eric De Los Santos. Three people were charged in the
smuggling and await trial, including former GEO employee Jack Shane McNeal,
inmate Antonio Molina-Ortega and Marisol Reyna Mermella, records show.

March 21, 2011 San Antonio Express-News
The parents of an inmate who died last year from a heroin overdose at a
privately run federal jail in downtown San Antonio have sued the operator,
alleging guards may have smuggled the drugs in and provided them to the
prisoner. The suit filed by Albert and Sandra Gomez, which was moved from
state court to federal court last week, states that their son, Albert Gomez
Jr., died May 19 from a heroin overdose while he was held at one of the
more secure parts of the Central Texas Detention Facility. The 685-bed
facility is owned by Bexar County, but has been managed for years by the
Boca Raton, Fla.-based GEO Group Inc., which has a contract with the county
and the U.S. Marshals Service to house federal pretrial inmates there. The
suit names GEO and a female guard, listed as “Jane Doe 1,” as defendants.
The suit alleges guards are improperly trained to handle people with drug
addictions and can freely participate in “black market sale of drugs to
prisoners.” One of the Gomez couple's lawyers, Matt Wymer, said he has been
informed that a criminal investigation has been launched, but the Marshals
Service declined comment because the matter is in litigation. The GEO Group
did not respond to a request for comment, but denied the allegations in a
court-filed response.

May 21, 2010 KENS 5
A federal inmate has died while in custody. Guards found the 25-year-old
dead in his cell early Wednesday morning. His family wants to know what
went wrong. Federal authorities arrested Albert Martin Gomez Jr. On January
20. He was accused of making and passing fake $100 bills. He and a
co-defendant were charged in a counterfeit-money ring. Gomez was released,
but was back at a federal holding facility in March, awaiting sentencing.
Around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday guards found Gomez unresponsive. Sources say
Gomez died from an apparent drug overdose, but nobody is talking.
Meanwhile, toxicology reports are pending. Bexar County records show Gomez
was also arrested in 2005 on an assault charge. The autopsy was completed,
but details aren't being released. The central Texas detention facility
where Gomez was being held is operated by the GEO Group, Inc. A
spokesperson had no comment on the death, only to say it is under
investigation.

November 23, 2007 American-Statesman
Sam Kambo can now hold his 4-year-old son, Seth, something he couldn't do
for a year while he was in a San Antonio prison waiting for the legal
system to sort out whether he should be deported. 'The worst thing you can
do to a useful person is to make him useless,' Kambo said On Thursday, the
Austin resident celebrated the first Thanksgiving since being released a
month ago from a federal prison in San Antonio. There he had waited for the
legal system to sort out whether he should be deported on government
charges that he was involved in mass murder in Sierra Leone, the West
African country in which he grew up and helped lead a bloodless coup in
1992 against the ruling party. After Kambo spent nearly a year awaiting his
day in court — while federal officials ignored two orders to release him on
bail — an immigration judge rejected the government's allegation that Kambo
had participated in mass murder. The judge ordered his release, but
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents did not comply for five months,
until another federal judge ordered him set free. Kambo's wife, Hanaan,
cared for their four children during that year, coordinated with the lawyer
handling her husband's case and survived on the charity of family and
friends. "We appreciate every day now. I appreciate every time I have
a day," Sam Kambo said Thursday, slicing a long slender eggplant for a
salad in the kitchen of his North Austin home. "I really cherish this
moment." Later, his brother, David, and mother, Susan, stopped by,
both of them having been granted status as legal residents after they
followed Sam to Austin. They did not talk about his fight with the federal
government. Six children played in a side room and occasionally ran through
the kitchen, where the adults moved about and chatted lightly, spooning
plates of food from the table in an informal pot luck style. The first
course was skewered beef cooked in peanut sauce and onions. Later came a
jambalaya-like dish of rice mixed with bits of beef, shrimp, carrots and
peas, accompanied by a salad, talapia fish and sweet blue African potatoes.
Hanaan Kambo did most of the cooking, but her husband rarely left the
kitchen. Sometimes, she says, when he is out of sight, she feels a wave of
anxiety come over her. "Maybe I'll be in the kitchen, and I just have
a moment, as if I'm reliving the time he was taken from us," she said.
Kambo was arrested in October 2006 at a hearing that he thought would
determine whether he became a permanent resident of the United States.
Instead, he was arrested and locked up in the GEO Group private detention
facility in San Antonio, where he shared a cell the size of his kitchen
with five other men and drank tap water from a basin attached to the cell's
group toilet.

September 2, 2005 San Antonio
Express-News
Eight local residents, including two former jail guards, pleaded guilty
Thursday to participating in a bank-fraud conspiracy that netted between
$90,000 and $160,000. The scheme stretched from July 2003 to October 2004
and involved opening 52 accounts at Bank of America branches and depositing
checks from a closed account or empty envelopes and quickly withdrawing
cash before bank officials caught on, court records noted. The case
ensnared 12 defendants and is among the first brought to federal court by a
U.S. Secret Service-led task force formed in October 2004 to target
identity-theft rings and other organized financial crime rackets. Court
documents allege Santos Lopez III, 27, his girlfriend, Estella Ramirez, and
Bruno Alejandro Jr., 40, devised the scheme and managed the operation.
Court records said the recruits were given startup money by the organizers
to open the accounts. The recruits would then hand over personal
identification numbers and ATM cards to Lopez or Ramirez. Checks from a
closed bank account would then be deposited through automated tellers, and
cash withdrawals would be made almost immediately, according to the court
documents. The court record showed recruits would be given part of the
proceeds, and Lopez and others spent much of the proceeds on cocaine. Also
pleading guilty Thursday were: Alejandro Regino, Manuel Riojas, Jessica
Guevara, Belinda Contreras, Angelica Guerra and Lopez's ex-girlfriend,
Sophia Martinez, whom Lopez started a relationship with while she was a
guard and he was incarcerated in San Antonio. Officials said both Martinez
and Guerra worked at the jail, operated by the Florida-based GEO Group
Inc., during the conspiracy. Both were terminated.

February 16, 2005 Express-News
A former guard who admitted trying to smuggle methamphetamine into a
private downtown jail that holds federal inmates was sentenced Tuesday to 2
1/2 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez allowed Lou Cindy
Ford, 39, to turn herself in to federal prison officials by June 3. Ford,
who worked at the old Central Texas Parole Violators Facility across the
street from the main police station, pleaded guilty last year to intending
to distribute 50 grams to 500 grams of the drug. Ford 's plea agreement said she was caught
trying to deliver four ounces to an inmate in exchange for $800 during an
undercover sting July 27, 2003. Ford was arrested later that day after she
drove back to the jail, which is run by Florida-based GEO Group Inc.

February 2, 2005 KSAT
A 19-year-old guard at the GEO Central Texas Detention Facility in San
Antonio has been placed on unpaid leave following his arrest on drug and
alcohol charges. According to a San Antonio Police Department report,
Manuel Castillo was arrested early Tuesday after he allegedly smuggled
drugs and alcohol into the federal facility.During Castillo's midnight break, he left
in his vehicle and later returned to the facility at 218 South Laredo
carrying a clear bottle filled with vodka, the report said. Police also
found some cocaine concealed in a sock and some tobacco tucked inside his
belt line. Castillo, who was hired in July 2004, is the fourth detention
officer arrested for allegedly bringing contraband into the facility in the
past 2 ½ years.

December 20, 2004 Express-News
Two San Antonio women have admitted they helped deliver a car and money for
a jailbreak attempt by several inmates, including alleged members of the
Texas Mexican Mafia. Estella Soto, 27,
and Paula Soto, 23, have struck plea deals in which they've agreed to plead
guilty to conspiracy in an escape attempt from a privately run jail
downtown. Inside the lockup, which is run by The Geo Group Inc. of Florida,
Soto was to escape through a window along with alleged Mexican Mafia
general Jimmy Zavala, 35, reputed Mexican Mafia member Gerardo Sanchez, 31,
and David A. Straughn, 31.

November 5, 2004 Express-News
A guard at a privately run jail that holds federal prisoners was released
on bond Thursday after pleading not guilty to planning to smuggle heroin
into the lockup. A federal grand jury
indicted Juan Roberto Ortiz, 40, on Wednesday. Ortiz had worked at the jail
since November 2003 and has been placed on unpaid leave, said Pablo Paez,
spokesman for Florida-based GEO Group Inc., which runs the jail.

November 1, 2004 Express-News
A guard at a privately run jail for federal inmates made his first court
appearance today on charges that he tried to smuggle heroin and cocaine
into the lockup. During an initial hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge John
Primomo ordered Juan Roberto Ortiz held pending a bail hearing on Thursday.
Before his arrest
this weekend, Ortiz, 40, had worked at the Central Texas Parole Violators
Facility since November 2003, according to Pablo Paez, spokesman for The
Geo Group, the Florida-based company that runs the jail. Ortiz's
arrest was the latest for guards who worked at the jail. In the past year,
Jessica Lee Piña, 24, and David C. Higginbotham, 42, have gone to prison
for trying to smuggle drugs into the lockup. Lou Cindy Ford, 39, pleaded
guilty in March to intending to distribute 4 ounces of methamphetamine at
the jail. She awaits sentencing.

January 5, 2004
A former guard at the privately run Wackenhut jail downtown was sentenced
to more than eight years in prison Thursday for trying to smuggle heroin
into the lockup. The 97 months U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia
gave David Higginbotham was the lower end of the sentence recommendation,
which ranged up to 121 months. A federal jury convicted Higginbotham
Aug. 7 of attempting to possess with intent to distribute heroin. The
charge stemmed from an undercover sting in which an inmate arranged to have
Higginbotham smuggle contraband to him. The contraband was to be given to
Higginbotham by an undercover San Antonio police officer. At trial,
Higginbotham claimed the officer forced him to accept the package, which
had 150 grams, or a little more than 5 ounces, of brown sugar.
According to testimony, Higginbotham refused to accept the package when he
was told it was heroin. But the officer also gave Higginbotham $500, and he
took the delivery. (My Sanatonio)

March
16, 2004A former jail guard
accused of trying to smuggle methamphetamine into the Wackenhut detention
facility downtown has struck a plea deal. Lou Cindy Ford, 39, is scheduled
to finalize the agreement by pleading guilty today in federal court to
intending to distribute between 50 grams to 500 grams of meth. She faces
five to 40 years in prison. (San Antonio Express-News)

August 7, 2002A jail guard who crashed a van carrying six prisoners into a downtown
lamppost earlier this week does not have a driver's license, state
officials said Tuesday. The van, operated by the private security firm
Wackenhut Corp., had just exited the feral courthouse parking lot shortly
before 5 p.m. Monday when the vehicle swerved toward the curb. Three
inmates were treated for "bruises and soreness" and sent back to
their cells at the privately operated Laredo Street lockup. (San Antonio
Express-News)

April 3, 2002
A jailer was arrested last week on charges that he accepted money and what
he believed to be heroin from an undercover agent, promising to take the
illegal drug inside the privately-owned federal correction facility where
he worked. David Higginbotham was arrested March 26 outside the Central
Texas Parole Violator Facility, a Wackenhut detention center located
downtown. (San Antonio Express-News)

Sept. 5, 1996
A week after a double murderer from Oklahoma escaped through a 6-inch
window, officials at Wackenhut Corrections Center say they are stepping up
security at the private jail. The escape of John Ray Davis, 21, prompted
prison management to decide to spend $20,000 on new doors and security
locks and to implement new procedures in the coming weeks, officials said.
(Houston Chronicle)

Central Valley
Modified Community Correctional Facility, McFarland,
California
November 26, 2011 The Daily PressThe state has canceled its contract with the privately operated Desert
View Modified Community Correctional Facility, putting about 150 workers
out of a job. Desert View's contract termination officially takes effect
Wednesday, though prison employees told the Daily Press that The Geo Group
Inc. has been preparing to deactivate the prison at Rancho and Aster roads
since May. The 643-bed medium-security prison is shuttering its doors as
part of California’s realignment plan, which responds to federal orders to
reduce state prison overcrowding by shifting responsibility for tens of
thousands of low-level offenders to county governments. To help deal with
the new influx of inmates under local supervision, the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is encouraging counties to
enter into their own contracts with more than a dozen former CCFs. The CCFs
had generally housed inmates with sentences shorter than 18 months, parole
violators and offenders with scheduled release dates — the same types of
nonviolent, non-sexual or non-serious offenders now serving out sentences
in county jails instead of state prisons. “We hope that counties contract
with these facilities to save jobs and ease inmate housing concerns that
many counties may have,” CDCR spokeswoman Dana Toyama said. But San
Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials say they’re not planning
to privatize jail beds. The math just doesn’t pencil out, according to
Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Cindy Bachman. “The issue with taking
advantage of private prisons or private jail facilities has come up over
and over again throughout the years; however, it’s not something that the
county is considering,” Bachman said. “It’s too costly and there’s just not
the funding really even to consider something like that.” The California
State Association of Counties has created a document outlining potential
beds at the former CCFs, but counties statewide have been hesitant to
exercise that option. The Geo Group had operated six of the nine privately
run CCFs that lost their state contracts, according to CSAC. Five other
CCFs were run by local governments. The facilities ranged from around 100
employees to more than 600, according to Toyama.

July 11, 2011 Business Wire
The GEO Group ("GEO") announced today that the State of
California has decided to implement its Criminal Justice Realignment Plan
(the "Realignment Plan"), which is expected to delegate tens of
thousands of low level state offenders to local county jurisdictions in
California effective October 1, 2011. As a result of the implementation of
the Realignment Plan, the State of California has decided to discontinue
contracts with Community Correctional Facilities which currently house low
level state offenders across the state. This decision will impact three GEO
facilities: the company-leased 305-bed Leo Chesney Community Correctional
Facility, the company-owned 643-bed Desert View Modified Community
Correctional Facility, and the company-owned 625-bed Central Valley
Modified Community Correctional Facility. GEO has received written notice
from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation regarding
the cancellation of GEO's agreements for the housing of low level state
offenders at these three facilities effective as of September 30, 2011,
November 30, 2011 and November 30, 2011, respectively. GEO is in the
process of actively marketing these facilities to local county agencies in
California. Given that most local county jurisdictions in California are
presently operating at or above their correctional capacity, GEO is hopeful
that it will be able to market these facilities to local county agencies
for the housing of low level offenders who will be the responsibility of
local county jurisdictions. If GEO is unable to secure alternative
customers for these three facilities, GEO estimates that the combined
annualized negative earnings per share impact of the cancellations would be
approximately $0.10-0.13, including carrying costs while the facilities are
idle. The combined annualized revenues for these three facilities were
approximately $33-$35 million.

October 26, 2004 Business WireFitch Ratings lowers
the rating on McFarland, CA's $1.4 million certificates of participation
(COPS), 2001 sewer system financing project, to 'B' from 'BBB-'. Fitch also
places the 2001 COPs on Rating Watch Negative. Of additional concern is the
December 2003 closing of one of three prisons operated by the GEO Group
Inc. In 2001, the prisons accounted for over 40% of sewer system revenues.
Subsequently, in August 2004, the city approved a change in the remaining
prison's conditional use permit allowing an additional 150 inmates at each
facility as requested by the California Department of Corrections. Because
wastewater fees are assessed on a per inmate basis, the nine month period
of reduced inmate capacity represents a significant revenue loss.

September 7, 2004 CalifornianA three-year overtime wage and benefit court battle pitting employees
against a private prison company is finally nearing an end. A settlement
agreement is set to be finalized Sept. 27 between about 2,700 current and
former employees and Wackenhut Corrections Corp., now The GEO Group Inc.
The workers, both guards and support personnel, claimed the company did not
pay overtime and made them work off the clock without pay. They also
claimed they were not given proper rest and meal breaks. The employees worked at six private prisons in
California, four of which are in Kern County. The Kern prisons include the
McFarland Community Correctional Facility, Central Valley Modified
Community Correctional Facility, and Golden State Modified Community
Correctional Facility, all in McFarland, and the Taft Correctional
Institution. The total amount of the settlement is about $10 million in
cash and non-cash benefits.

Cheyenne
Mountain Re-Entry Center,
ColoradoNov 29,
2017 patch.com Inmate killed At Colorado Springs For-Profit Prison : CDOCCOLORADO SPRINGS, CO -- An inmate at a Colorado Springs prison re-entry
facility died Nov. 26 after an assault from another inmate or inmates that
took place earlier in the week, the Colorado Dept. of Corrections reported.
Daniel Pena, 64, died of injuries Nov. 26 after being assaulted at the
Cheyenne Mountain Re-Entry Center, 2925 E Las Vegas St. A statement from
CDOT said the assault investigation began on Nov. 20, but did not specify
when the assault happened. The assault was described as, "an isolated
incident involving offenders, no correctional officers were injured,"
in a press release. CDOC Spokesman Mark Fairbairn told the Denver Post that
Pena had been sentenced in 2014 for illegally drugging a victim, was
scheduled for release on March 21, 2019. He was eligible for parole.
Cheyenne Mountain Re-entry Center is one of four for-profit prisons in
Colorado, run by the Geo Group, Inc. The facility is described as a place
where male inmates live and are given job training and therapy resources
prior to ending their prison terms. The CDOC website calls Cheyenne
Mountain, "the last stop before community reintegration." The
Department of Corrections Inspector General's office and El Paso County
District Attorney's office are now treating the investigation as a
homicide, the departments said in a press statement. The investigation is
considered "active" and more details will be released later.
Coke County Juvenile Justice Center, Bronte, TexasOctober
12, 2007 KRIS TV
The delayed discovery of squalid conditions at a privately run Texas Youth
Commission jail was "a human failure" and stronger oversight is
needed to prevent similar incidents, a key state senator said Friday.
"It was very simple that the monitors were not doing their job and
there was a human failure," said Sen. John Whitmire, head of the
Senate Criminal Justice Committee. "Who's monitoring the
monitors?" Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, called a committee hearing
about a week after a Coke County juvenile lockup in Bronte operated by The
GEO Group, Inc., was closed because of filthy conditions. A Texas Youth
Commission ombudsman discovered the conditions, even though the facility
had passed previous inspections by TYC monitors. The TYC system was rocked
earlier this year by allegations of rampant sexual and other physical abuse
against juvenile inmates in the system. The star witness at Friday's
hearing on adult and juvenile prison monitoring was Shirley Noble, who told
how her son, 43-year-old Idaho inmate Scot Noble Payne, endured months of
horrific conditions then slit his own throat at a private Texas prison run
by GEO Group. "It seemed there was no end to the degradation he and
other prisoners were to endure with substandard facilities," Noble
said. Her son died March 4 in a private prison in Spur. Noble questioned
why Idaho sent its inmates to Texas and why the Florida-based GEO Group was
allowed to keep prisoners in what she described as "degrading and
subhuman conditions." "Please, please hold them accountable for
all the injuries and misery they have caused," Noble said. A spokesman
for GEO Group did not immediately return a telephone call from The
Associated Press to respond to comments made at the hearing. TYC Acting
Executive Director Dimitria Pope, who took over the youth agency earlier
this year, testified that she's putting more monitoring safeguards in
place. That includes sending executive staff members out to view the
lockups, something she said hadn't been done regularly in the past.
"Because of my concerns of what I saw in Coke County, I have
implemented a blitz of every facility, either the ones that we operate,
that contract, district offices, anything that has TYC affiliated with
it," she said, adding that each site will be visited by the end of
October. Adan Munoz Jr., executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail
Standards, said he has four inspectors do annual inspections of the 267
facilities under his oversight. He defended his agency's practice of giving
two- to three-week notices about inspection visits but said recently there
have been more surprise inspections. Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa,
D-McAllen, said privatizing prisons is an "easy way out." He said
he worries about the state continuing to contract with companies that have
a history of abuse. "It's a myth that the private sector does a better
job than government" in running prisons, Hinojosa said. "They're
there to make a profit and they'll cut corners, and they'll cut back on
services and they'll many times look the other way when abuse is taking
place." Because of Texas' size and high rate of locking up convicts,
the state is in the national spotlight for its dealings with private prison
firms, said Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston. "It puts a special burden on
us," he said. "If it needs to be improved, improve it, because
everybody looks to us." Noble was the panel's final witness. The room
hushed as she told the senators her family's emotional tale. Her son, a
convicted sex offender, was kept in solitary confinement for months with a
wet floor, bloodstained sheets and smelly towels. She said he wrote long,
detailed letters to family members in which he said the only way to escape
the prison's harsh conditions was to join his late grandfather in the
spirit world. Noble said she begged for psychological help for her son. She
said he wasn't supposed to have been given a razor, and she still wonders
how he got the one he used to end his life. "After he tried to
unsuccessfully slash his wrists and ankles, he knelt in the shower and cut
his own throat," she said. "Surely only a person in utter
disillusionment and horrifying conditions would bring themselves to this
end."

October 12, 2007 Dallas Morning NewsThree monitors fired by the Texas Youth Commission last week for
failing to report filthy and dangerous conditions at a privately run
juvenile prison in West Texas had previously worked for the company they
oversaw. Two of the quality assurance monitors were hired directly from
caseworker positions with The GEO Group Inc. at the Coke County Juvenile
Justice Center, according to their job applications. The monitoring unit's
supervisor also briefly worked for GEO at the youth prison near Bronte four
years before being hired by TYC, records show. A clerk who was fired had
previous GEO employment as well. TYC spokesman Jim Hurley said agency
executives were unaware of the terminated workers' ties to GEO before The
Dallas Morning News filed an open-records request this week. Officials said
last week that they were concerned about entanglements between TYC
employees and the company they monitored. TYC's inspector general has
launched a criminal investigation of operations at the Coke County prison,
including the possibility of financial transactions between GEO and TYC
employees. GEO's relationship with the fired TYC monitors is a likely topic
at a hearing today of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee in Austin. It
is intended to examine GEO's operation of youth and adult prisons in Texas.
State Sen. John Whitmire, the panel's chairman, was angered to learn from a
reporter Thursday that TYC monitors had previously been employed by GEO.
"I think it's outrageous," the Houston Democrat said. "It
just confirms what many of us suspected – that there was too close a
relationship between the TYC employees and GEO employees." He said the
committee also would seek answers from the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice and county jail and juvenile probation officials about their own
monitoring of private corrections companies. "Anyone that confines
individuals in the state of Texas needs to make certain they know who their
monitors are – and that they go behind their monitors and literally monitor
their monitors," Mr. Whitmire said. Mr. Hurley said the prior
employment with GEO raised questions about whether the monitors had been
objective in their evaluations of the facility. "How do you monitor
the monitors?" he said. "We need a very good answer to
that." For years, quality assurance reports on the Coke County prison
had been overwhelmingly positive. Twice, TYC named it contract facility of
the year. "You have to worry about conflicts of interest," Mr.
Hurley said Thursday. "I'm not saying there is a conflict of interest.
But there is a perception." TYC Executive Director Dimitria Pope fired
four monitors at the Coke County prison and a clerk last week after she and
others toured the facility. It was in such deplorable condition, Ms. Pope
said, that she ordered the removal of all 197 inmates. She also fired
another employee at the Coke County facility who had not worked for GEO,
and two contract care supervisors at TYC's district office in Fort Worth.
The head of contract care at TYC's headquarters in Austin resigned. Ms.
Pope canceled TYC's $8 million contract with Florida-based GEO, which had
operated the Coke County facility since it opened in 1994. GEO initially
tried to reinstate the contract but, after criticism, said it accepted the
decision. The Coke County facility was the state's largest private youth
prison. It was the only Texas juvenile facility operated by GEO, one of the
nation's biggest private prison contractors. As a result of the problems
discovered at Coke County, Ms. Pope ordered a wholesale review of the
agency's contract care system. "Who the monitors are and where they
come from will be one of the issues that we're going to look at," Mr.
Hurley said. TYC employs more than 40 quality assurance specialists and
supervisors, according to personnel records provided to The News. Some are
stationed at the facilities they monitor, several of which are in remote
rural areas. Mr. Hurley shied away from discussing what actions the agency
might undertake if it learns that other monitors had previous employment
with contractors they inspect. "What we need to do is make sure that
first of all, every one of these contracts is being monitored and that it's
being monitored correctly," he said. "If the remoteness is a
problem, I think that monitoring these contracts accurately will show us
that," he said. "We need to have a sort of evidence-based
determination." The Coke County prison is in a one-stoplight town
about 30 miles north of San Angelo. It was the town's second-largest
employer after the school district. One-third of the school district's $6
million budget is tied to programs at the prison. Two of the fired TYC
employees lived in Bronte. Valerie Jones, former supervisor of the
monitoring unit, has two children in the Bronte schools. Patti Frazee, her
clerk, is married to a member of the Bronte school board. Ms. Jones, who
worked for GEO as a chemical-dependency counselor from October 1995 to July
1996, declined to comment Thursday. She was hired by TYC as a quality
assurance monitor in spring 2000, records show. Ms. Frazee, reached at her
home, said officials of the youth agency never raised any questions about
her previous employment with GEO. "There were not very many jobs out
here," she said. "Any time you could take a state job, it was a
better job for everybody because it paid more money. That's the only
reason. It was like a step up from GEO. That's the way everybody viewed it."
Ms. Frazee was paid $17,950 per year working as bookkeeper for GEO. As a
clerk for TYC, she earned $25,035. The two monitors hired directly from
GEO, Brian Lutz and David Roberson, earned $26,800 and $24,500 per year,
respectively. With TYC, Mr. Lutz was paid $33,945,while Mr. Roberson
received $37,393, agency records show. Several attempts to locate Mr. Lutz
for comment were unsuccessful. Mr. Roberson, reached at his home in San
Angelo, declined to be interviewed. Lisa Williamson worked as a TYC quality
assurance monitor at the Coke County facility from 1998 until 2004. She
said she knew Mr. Roberson and Ms. Jones well. She described them as
honest, hard-working people devoted to their jobs. "There is not
anybody there who I wouldn't trust with my own children," said Ms.
Williamson, who now works as a juvenile probation officer in Young County.
Ms. Williamson said she had not worked for GEO. But she said she never saw
any of her colleagues who had worked for the company ignore any problems.
While she and the GEO warden, Brett Bement, frequently tried to tell each
other how to do their jobs, Ms. Williamson said, she didn't feel pressured
and didn't obey him. "He knew I wasn't a pushover, and he couldn't get
by with it. He couldn't have done that with any of us," she said. GEO
Group gave money to several state officials' campaigns -- State Rep. Jerry
Madden held his annual "How Sweet It Is" dessert party in Plano
on Thursday night to raise money for a future campaign. One of the sponsors
at the $2,500 "cherries jubilee" level was to be The GEO Group
Inc., a Florida-based corrections company. Until last week, GEO operated
the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center near Bronte under contract with the
Texas Youth Commission. In recent years, the company has donated to the
campaigns of some legislators who oversee the youth agency. Two of them,
Mr. Madden and Sen. John Whitmire, are co-chairmen of the special
legislative committee established this year to oversee reforms of TYC in
the wake of a sexual abuse scandal at the West Texas State School in Pyote.
Mr. Madden, R-Plano, received a total of $2,500 from GEO's political action
committee in 2005 and 2006, according to campaign finance records. Mr.
Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, received $2,000 from the political action
committee of Wackenhut Corrections Corp., as GEO was previously known, in
2003 and 2004. Other recipients of GEO or Wackenhut contributions are Lt.
Gov. David Dewhurst, who received $2,500 in 2006, and House Speaker Tom
Craddick, R-Midland, who received $1,000 in 2005, state records show. In
addition to Mr. Madden, the chairman of the House Corrections Committee,
two other panel members received donations from GEO or Wackenhut. Rep.
Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock, received $250 in 2006. And Pat Haggerty, R-El Paso,
received $500 from the Wackenhut Corrections PAC in 2004. Sylvester Turner,
D-Houston, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal
Justice and another member of the Joint Committee on the Operation and
Management of the Texas Youth Commission, received $250 in 2006. Mr.
Madden's predecessor as head of the corrections committee, Ray Allen,
received $3,500 in 2003 and 2004 from Wackenhut. He since has left public
office and is a lobbyist for GEO. Mr. Madden acknowledged that lobbyists for
GEO might attend his fundraiser at the Southfork Hotel on Thursday night.
But he said he had told the lobbyists that he did not want a check.
"Just right now, I think it would be a bad idea to specifically look
for contributions from GEO," he said.

October 11, 2007 The OlympianThe mother of an Idaho inmate who killed himself in a Texas prison this
year has become a corrections activist. Shirley Noble travels to Austin,
Texas Friday to urge lawmakers there to stop accepting out-of-state
prisoners at their for-profit lockups. Texas is holding hearings over The
GEO Group, a Florida-based private prison company that lost its contract to
oversee a juvenile prison because of dirty bed sheets, feces-smeared cells
and insects in the food. GEO also ran the prison where Shirley Noble's son,
Scot Noble Payne, slashed his throat March 4. The convicted sex offender
had been shipped to Texas with a group of 450 Idaho inmates because of
overcrowding at prisons at home. Shirley Noble contends sending prisoners
out-of-state leaves them without family contact - and caused Idaho prison
officials to neglect them.

October 6, 2007 Dallas Morning News
The Texas Youth Commission is investigating whether its employees had
improper ties to GEO Group Inc., the company that ran a West Texas juvenile
prison where inmates lived in dangerous and squalid conditions. Acting TYC
Executive Director Dimitria Pope said Friday that agency investigators will
be checking into the backgrounds of employees to "see if they are
connected to GEO in any way." Among the areas of inquiry, she said, is
whether anyone in TYC was working as a consultant for GEO. Investigators
also will look for any other financial arrangements between TYC workers and
GEO, which operated the now-closed Coke County Juvenile Justice Center in
Bronte. Any TYC employee found to have ties to GEO will be fired, Ms. Pope
said. "I'm saying let's go back to the time this facility just opened.
Let's see if there are any interesting financial transactions," she
said. "I think if you go back and look, there will be some interesting
things to look at." On Friday afternoon, Ms. Pope toured the TYC
prison in Mart, which took in the 197 inmates removed from the GEO facility
on Tuesday. TYC canceled its $8 million contract with the company on
Monday, citing "deplorable conditions." Ms. Pope, who visited the
Coke County prison late last month after a surprise agency inspection, said
she saw indications that the relationship between TYC's on-site monitors
and GEO was not as separate as it should have been. For example, she said,
GEO workers had keys to TYC's office in Bronte. When she entered the
office, she said, no agency employee was there, but confidential inmate
records remained in plain sight. "Kids' files were laying out on the
table," she said. "There was stuff on the fax machine." Ms.
Pope said she does not know if any TYC monitors formerly worked for GEO,
but she is concerned about that as well. 'A disgrace' -- TYC has already
fired seven employees whose jobs were to monitor the Coke County unit and
GEO's contract compliance. TYC's on-site inspectors routinely filed glowing
reports on the prison. "They were there," she said of the
inspectors. "They [their reports] say absolutely nothing." At a
news conference in Austin earlier in the day, Ms. Pope blasted GEO, with
whom Texas has done business since 1994. She said it operated a fire trap
and that inmates' medical needs were ignored, schooling was "almost
nonexistent" and a pattern of "physical and psychological
harm" was routinely tolerated. "GEO should be ashamed," she
said. "The Coke County Juvenile Justice Center is a disgrace." A
TYC audit of the facility described a breakdown on many levels, including
safety, hygiene, medical treatment, education and maintenance. Asked if TYC
auditors found anyone at the Coke unit who had been doing the job properly,
Ms. Pope responded: "I'm saying, 'Hell, no, they weren't.' "
"The kids had a stench because they weren't allowed to bathe,"
she said. "And their teeth? Horrible." During her visit to TYC's prison
in Mart, near Waco, Ms. Pope spoke with about 25 inmates from the GEO-run
unit. "I notice you have toothpaste in there," she said to one,
as the inmates stood at parade rest outside their cells. "I got you
here so you can be treated like a human being," Ms. Pope told one
15-year-old inmate. A TYC audit of the GEO facility, released Friday, said
inmates did not have access to toothpaste or toothbrushes for days at a
time. Filth and disrepair were common throughout the prison, the report
said. Only one washer and one dryer were available to serve nearly 200
youth. TYC auditors who visited the prison got so much fecal matter on
their shoes they had to wipe their feet on the grass outside, Ms. Pope
said. Many pieces of fire safety equipment were either inoperable or
missing, the report said. Some emergency exits were closed with locks and
chains. "I personally was locked in one of the dorms because the doors
didn't work properly," Ms. Pope said. The prison's warden said he was
aware of many of the problems pointed out by auditors. "He indicated
that corporate did not respond to many of his purchasing needs ...,"
the audit report said. Dispatching audit teams -- TYC paid GEO $632,000 a
month to operate the prison, the report said. Last year, TYC spent nearly
$17 million of its $249 million budget on private contractors, according to
a Dallas Morning News investigation in July, which revealed problems with
the agency's contract facilities. The agency said it was sending audit
teams, composed of former members of the state's jail standards commission,
to visit every TYC prison and halfway house. "No stone is going to go
unturned," Ms. Pope said. "I don't want any more surprises."
State Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice
Committee, said Friday that he would hold legislative hearings on GEO's
contracts to run other correctional facilities throughout Texas.
"We're preparing ourselves for a thorough review of GEO, and it could
easily take us into other private contractors," he said. "But GEO
is our focus now as a result of Coke County and their response." He
criticized not only the conditions that GEO allowed to exist but also the
company's response to the problem. "They tried to cover it. They tried
to spin it. They had their lobbyists try to pressure legislators not to
listen to TYC," Sen. Whitmire said. "So if that's their attitude,
then I question their ability to carry out their contractual requirements
in other state facilities." Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, chairman of the
House Corrections Committee, said he had no information to suggest
financial corruption in the GEO contract but added, "I think that we
should let the [inspector general's] investigation go forward and see what
they find." Criminal inquiry -- TYC Inspector General Bruce Toney said
Wednesday that he had begun a criminal investigation of the GEO-run youth
prison. He requested assistance from the state auditor's office and also
advised the Texas Rangers and Texas attorney general's office of his
investigation. TYC is "an agency that has had deep internal problems,
and they just don't go away overnight," Mr. Madden said. "There
should have been a lot of people who had the responsibility of finding out
that those things had happened." Ms. Pope expressed anger at critics
of TYC's cancellation of the GEO contract. "I will no longer sit here
and take the unfair jabs of individuals who are attempting to advance their
personal agenda over the welfare of youth," she said. She would not
specify about whom she was talking. "I think it speaks for
itself," she said. Some local officials in Coke County have said the
prison does not deserve to be closed and have said TYC's actions will have
a devastating economic impact on Bronte. "Anyone who's rallying behind
GEO," Ms. Pope said, "should ... hold their heads in shame."

October 5, 2007 San Antonio Express-News
The Texas Youth Commission's chief blasted critics Friday who questioned
her handling of problems at a juvenile center shuttered this week, but also
admitted a "significant breakdown" in her own agency's oversight.
"I will no longer sit back and take the unfair jabs from individuals
who are attempting to advance their own particular agenda over the welfare
of the youth," said Dimitria Pope, TYC's acting executive director. "Neither
money nor power can come over my No. 1 priority, which is our youth."
Pope, who made the comments at a news conference she called at TYC's Austin
headquarters, refused to name the individual critics she called unfair or
inaccurate. Her comments appeared directed, however, at two sources of
criticism. One is the elected leadership of the small town of Bronte in
West Texas, angered by the loss of 100 jobs when TYC shuttered the Coke
County Juvenile Justice Center this week and transferred about 195 young
inmates elsewhere. The other is state Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Richardson,
chairman of the House Corrections Committee, who said he wonders why TYC
only now is learning about alleged squalor and unfit conditions at the
youth lockup run by Geo Group Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla. Citing those
conditions, Pope fired seven agency "quality assurance" staffers
and canceled the agency's $8 million contract with Geo, which specializes
in private prisons. The action threw TYC in the spotlight again after a sex
abuse scandal at the agency led to investigations and intense legislative
scrutiny last spring. "I am very concerned as to how did this
condition arise, how long did it take and why are we just now finding out
about it?" Madden said Friday, applauding a criminal investigation under
way by TYC's inspector general. "We asked the question at our last
hearing, were the kids safer? The answer we got was yes. It appears to me
some of them were not," Madden added. Pope complained during her news
conference that she was "damned if I did and damned if I didn't"
and asserted that the agency should get the respect it needs as it attempts
to carry out the mission of keeping confined youths safe. "There was a
significant breakdown. That will be totally restructured," she said of
the lack of checks and balances for the agency's oversight team. TYC's
acting director of quality assurance, Elizabeth Lee, resigned this week but
the agency's spokesman Jim Hurley said he didn't know if it was connected
to the problems at the Geo-run youth facility. "Geo should be ashamed
and anyone who's rallying behind Geo should also hold their head in
shame," Pope said. Geo officials, who had said they provided quality
services, said Friday they'd make no further comments. Coke County Judge
Roy Blair said that he'd been to the Geo-run youth facility several times,
and the Commissioners Court had inspected it every quarter. "I have
never noted any, what I would call severe, problems as far as mistreatment
or health issues or any significant problems," he said. "The thing
has always been relatively clean." Senate Criminal Justice Committee
Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston, opened an investigation of adult private
prison contracts with Geo.

October 5, 2007 Houston Chronicle
A Houston lawmaker is launching a broad investigation into a private prison
contractor after the state closed one of its youth facilities this week,
citing filth, poor safety and health violations. Democratic Sen. John
Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, cited the
"terrible job" Geo Group Inc. did running the West Texas youth
lockup and said Thursday he plans to review adult corrections contracts the
state has with the company. Boca Raton, Fla.-based Geo Group, which runs
eight adult lockups in Texas, was sued by the Texas Civil Rights Project in
2006 in connection with an alleged rape and suicide of a woman at the Val
Verde County Jail. The suit alleged jail guards working for the company
have allowed male and female inmates to have sex with each other. The suit
was settled earlier this year with a nondisclosure agreement. Geo spokesman
Pablo Paez did not return phone calls seeking comment, but earlier stated
the company had provided quality services at the TYC facility. On Monday
the Texas Youth Commission shuttered the doors of its Coke County Juvenile
Justice Center, run by Geo, and moved nearly 200 young offenders to other
TYC facilities. "When we saw what a terrible job they were doing at
Coke County, TYC had the ability to shut it down and move their
youth," Whitmire said. As for the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice, he wondered, "When we find a failure to properly run a
facility, what do they do?" Geo operates four prisons, two shorter
term lockups and a halfway house for the adult prison system. Prison spokeswoman
Michelle Lyons said the agency hasn't had any "significant ongoing
operational issues." Whitmire said he found evidence that a 90-day
lockup in Houston run by Geo was out of compliance in 139 of 395 areas in a
recent inspection. Lyons said Whitmire is referring to a 2006 audit, and
all problems cited have now been cleared up. Geo also supervises state
prisoners in leased space in the Jefferson and Newton county jails. TYC
spokesman Jim Hurley said the agency's inspector general has opened a
criminal investigation into the conditions at the Coke County juvenile
facility. Seven TYC employees have been fired, including several who were
responsible for on-site monitoring of the Coke facility. This was the only
contract Geo had with the Youth Commission. But the agency has contracts
with several other providers for various programs throughout the state,
including foster homes and a program to teach parenting skills to
delinquents who are pregnant.

October 3, 2007 Dallas Morning News
Seven Texas Youth Commission employees were fired Wednesday as a state
investigation widened at a privately run West Texas juvenile prison where
inmates were found living in filth. TYC Inspector General Bruce Toney said
Wednesday he has begun a criminal investigation of operations at the Coke
County Juvenile Justice Center near Bronte. Mr. Toney said his inquiry
could focus on TYC employees and those of GEO Group Inc., which operates
the prison. "We are going to follow all leads wherever they take us
and as high as they may go both in TYC and the operation of that
facility," Mr. Toney said. Citing "deplorable conditions,"
TYC this week canceled its contract with GEO to operate the state's largest
private juvenile prison. All 197 male inmates were removed on Tuesday. Mr.
Toney said he has requested assistance from the state auditor's office and
met with the head of the Travis County district attorney's public integrity
unit on Wednesday. He said he also advised the Texas Rangers and Texas
attorney general's office of his investigation. He sent one of his
investigators to the Coke County facility last week. "Our initial
response was to go out there and basically take a preliminary look and see
what we had out there. We will just look at everything and see what
transpires," Mr. Toney said. State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston,
threatened to hold a public hearing on GEO's operation of the TYC prison.
"Certainly that's an option if this goes any further," said Mr.
Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. "If GEO thinks
they've been treated unfairly, let's have a public hearing and look at all
the photographs and videos [of the Coke County prison] and let the public
decide." Mr. Whitmire said he was upset at efforts this week by GEO
lobbyists to convince legislators that TYC had treated the company too
harshly. "Now enters GEO with their paid lobbyists attempting to put a
good face on this," Mr. Whitmire said. "I'm saying the
corporation should back off. They've run a very poor facility that probably
violates the youths' civil rights. ... Kids were stepping in their own
feces. The sheets were such that a cat or dog wouldn't sleep on them."
GEO spokesman Pablo Paez said he would not comment on any attempts by the
company's lobbyists to sway legislators. Mr. Paez said his company was disappointed
in TYC's decision to cancel the contract. "We believe we have provided
quality services for the Texas Youth Commission for many years," he
said. TYC officials have been unable to explain how the agency's own
quality assurance monitors, stationed just outside the prison, not only
failed to report substandard conditions but praised the operation. In the
monitors' most recent review, in February, the prison was awarded an
overall compliance score of 97.7 percent. In that review, monitors also
thanked GEO staff for their positive work with TYC youth. "Those who
were supposed to be our quality-assurance people out at Bronte will no
longer be working for the Texas Youth Commission," agency spokesman
Jim Hurley said. He cited an "abysmal failure on their part to not
report the deterioration of that facility." Four of the TYC employees
who were fired on Wednesday worked as quality assurance monitors at the
Coke County facility. A fifth, who worked in TYC's district office in Fort
Worth, was an author of the February report. The two other employees also
were in contract care management, but Mr. Hurley said he would not disclose
their specific job titles or where they worked. TYC identified none of the
employees by name. Late last month, several TYC officials – including
acting executive director Dimitria Pope – visited the prison and found poor
conditions. A report by TYC ombudsman Will Harrell detailed numerous
deficiencies. He found inmates who had been placed in solitary confinement
for five weeks. They were allowed to leave their cells once a day, in
shackles, to take a shower. Mr. Harrell also noted that some bedsheets were
dirty and that inmates "complain regularly of discovering insects' in
their food. "Children seemed almost desperate to lodge their complaints,"
Mr. Harrell wrote in his report. Many of his findings were confirmed in a
report by Susan Moynahan, the TYC liaison for the Harris County Juvenile
Probation Department. Among her discoveries at the Coke unit: Inmates in
one dorm did not have a restroom, so they were forced to defecate in
plastic bags. Mr. Paez, the GEO spokesman, said he has read the ombudsman's
findings. "I have seen the report," he said. "I really can't
comment on it." State Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, said he will meet
today with GEO representatives to discuss the Coke County prison. "I
want to hear their side of it." TYC paid GEO $8 million a year to run
the Coke County prison. GEO said it had pre-tax earnings of about $800,000
a year on the contract. Last year, TYC spent nearly $17 million of its $249
million budget doing business with private contractors, including GEO. TYC
is putting together a plan to review each contract care program, Mr. Hurley
said. "We are working right now on plans to have a physical presence
at every contract care program that we are operating to review what is
going on and to ensure the monitoring reports that we get are
accurate," he said. In July, The Dallas Morning News found numerous
problems with TYC's contractor-run facilities. The stories revealed that
private contractors housing juvenile inmates in Texas repeatedly have lost
contracts or closed operations in other states after investigators
uncovered mismanagement, neglect and abuse. Two states closed GEO-operated
units because of abuse allegations and inadequate care of inmates. TYC was
placed in a state conservatorship this year after a sex abuse scandal and
subsequent cover-up were exposed by The News and the Web site of The Texas
Observer. Mr. Madden of Plano was one of the authors of legislation this
year intended to reform TYC. He noted Wednesday that he had asked TYC
officials at a hearing last month if inmates are safer now than they were
before the reforms. Officials assured him they are. Now, Mr. Madden said,
problems such as those in Coke County have caused him to question TYC's
response. "I'm not sure the answer, 'They are safer,' is actually
true," he said.

October 3, 2007 Dallas Morning-News
The Texas Youth Commission is investigating why juvenile inmates endured
squalor and deprivation at a privately run West Texas prison that was
repeatedly praised by TYC's own quality-assurance monitors. The agency
began busing the 197 male inmates from the Coke County Juvenile Justice
Center before dawn Tuesday. Officials also canceled an $8-million annual
contract with operators of the state's largest private juvenile prison,
citing "deplorable conditions." The problems found at the prison
in Bronte, operated by the GEO Group Inc. of Florida, were described in a
report by TYC Ombudsman Will Harrell. "There is a greater sense of
fear and intimidation in this facility than perhaps any other I have been
to," Mr. Harrell wrote. He also noted that: •Some young inmates were
kept in "malodorous and dark" security cells for five weeks. They
were allowed to leave, in shackles, only once a day for a shower. •There
was an "over-reliance" on the use of pepper spray. •Inmates
"complain regularly of discovering insects in their food." TYC
announced Tuesday that its inspector general's office, as well as Department
of Public Safety troopers, were investigating. TYC spokesman Jim Hurley
said other agencies, including the state auditor's office and the attorney
general's office, could join the investigation. Asked if TYC suspected
financial wrongdoing, Mr. Hurley would say only, "We're concerned
about every aspect of the way this facility was run and the contract was
administered." The agency "cannot tolerate this kind of
situation," he added. "Not only do there need to be financial
sanctions, but there need to be other actions taken against people who
operate this way." This is only the latest problem to beset TYC, which
was placed in state conservatorship this year after a sex abuse scandal and
subsequent cover-up were exposed by The Dallas Morning News and the Web site
of The Texas Observer. In July, an investigation by The News detailed
numerous problems with TYC's contract-run facilities, including GEO's Coke
County prison. The investigation revealed that at least two other states
had closed GEO-run facilities because of inadequate care of inmates and
abuse allegations. GEO spokesman Pablo Paez said the company was
disappointed by TYC's decision, which he said was unexpected. "We had
not received any notices or any indication of any significant deficiencies at
the facility prior to agency's decision to discontinue the contract,"
Mr. Paez said. Contractor of the year -- Among other matters at the Bronte
facility near San Angelo, state investigators will explore whether inmates
were prevented from filing grievances with TYC. "I don't think the
phones worked all the time if they wanted to complain," Mr. Hurley
said, and "kids weren't let out of their cells" to file
complaints. TYC employs four full-time quality-assurance monitors at the
Coke County prison. They work in a portable building just outside the
facility's secure perimeter. Their jobs were to ensure that GEO was meeting
the terms of its contract, the first priority being inmates' health and
safety, Mr. Hurley said. "What were they doing? That's what we're
asking," Mr. Hurley said of the monitors. "I do imagine that we
will be seeing personnel actions taken as a result of this." According
to TYC records, the agency's quality-assurance monitors awarded the Coke
County facility mostly high scores on planned and unplanned inspections
there over the last seven years. In 1999 and again in 2005, TYC named Coke
County its "contract facility of the year." Mr. Hurley said
monitors conducted their most recent comprehensive review of the facility
in late February 2007. Records show few problems were recorded. Coke
"achieved an overall compliance score of 97.7 percent with
twenty-eight of twenty-nine critical measures passed," the report
stated. "Thank you to the Coke County staff and administration for the
positive work they do with TYC youth." Monitors did note that one dorm
"had an offensive odor" due to a sewer backup. "A number of
youth complained that their clothing was not getting clean and that it was
returned to them still damp," the report stated. In addition, TYC monitors
wrote that the schedule for inmates' showers had been interrupted because
of emergencies requiring guards to maintain safety in the dorms.
"Administrative staff was made aware of the issue and the need to
correct," according to the report. The comprehensive review occurred
five months after 19-year-old Robert Schulze, an inmate who had complained
that he felt unsafe, hanged himself in his solitary cell. A TYC
investigation found a number of missteps that contributed to the young
man's suicide, and TYC put the facility on a corrective action plan as a
result. 'Prevalence of fear' -- Mr. Harrell, the new TYC ombudsman, said he
visited the Coke County facility on Sept. 21 as part of his tour of the
agency's West Texas facilities. He found dirty mattresses lying on cell
floors and a large infestation of spiders, beetles and crickets crawling
around the facility, he said. Inmates told him their sheets and clothes had
not been laundered in weeks or months. "Most of what I had seen had to
be pre-existing for months if not years," he said in an interview.
There was also a "real prevalence of fear" among the inmates, he
said. "If I was to be placed in a TYC facility that would be my last
pick for sure," he added. Of the schooling available to inmates in
security cells, Mr. Harrell wrote in a report on his visit: "
'Education' consists of someone dropping a single sheet of paper through
the door slot each day which usually contains a cross work [sic] puzzle, a
word game or math problems." Three days after Mr. Harrell's visit,
acting TYC Executive Director Dimitria Pope dispatched her new director of
juvenile corrections to the Coke County facility. Billy Humphrey, a former
adult prison warden, told his boss that the facility was "filthy"
and that TYC needed to "take a much deeper look" because he had a
"very uncomfortable feeling," Mr. Hurley said. On Sept. 26, a
team of TYC officials made an unannounced visit to Coke. Ms. Pope arrived
at the facility last weekend and returned on Monday to Austin, where she
met with Alfonso Royal, the governor's liaison to TYC, and Brian Newby, the
governor's chief of staff. She then ordered the GEO contract canceled and
the youths moved to another TYC prison in Mart, near Waco. "She told
us that this needs to happen," said Robert Black, the governor's
spokesman. "And we told her if this needed to happen, she needed to do
it." Inmates were moved to TYC's McLennan County facility on buses
escorted by DPS troopers. TYC made room for the Coke County youth by moving
dozens of Mart inmates to other agency facilities, said Scott Medlock, an
attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project. At least two TYC inmates he
represents in legal action against the agency were transferred to the
Crockett State School in East Texas, he said. TYC transferred the youth
without notifying parents, he said. "I've had panicked parents calling
me all day, saying, 'I can't find my kid,' " said Mr. Medlock.
Problems persist -- State Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said Tuesday he
has been concerned about GEO's performance for years, a point he raised at
a legislative hearing in August. "I'm not surprised at what they [TYC
officials] found," said Sen. Hinojosa, an author of the 2007 law aimed
at reforming TYC. "There are still a lot of problems at TYC that we're
trying to clean up." A GEO news release issued Tuesday noted that its
TYC contract generated quarterly revenue of about $2 million and pre-tax
quarterly earnings of about $200,000. Now, the company plans to market the
facility to state and federal detention agencies around the country. In the
meantime, it expects to lay off most of the 140 employees. City and school
district officials in Bronte said Tuesday they had no advance notice of
TYC's decision to close the Coke County facility. The mayor and school
superintendent blamed the decision on politics. "It is straight from
Gov. Perry's office. He wants this facility closed," Mayor Gerald
Sandusky said. "He's looking for public image." "This
facility does an outstanding job," Mr. Sandusky added. "It
couldn't be better."

October 2, 2007 Dallas Morning NewsTexas Youth Commission officials will pull the 197 TYC inmates out of a
West Texas juvenile justice center today and cancel their contract with the
company that runs it, citing deplorable conditions at the state's largest
privately operated juvenile prison. "The decisive action ... is a
clear indication of the positive changes under way at the Texas Youth
Commission," Gov. Rick Perry said Monday. "I am deeply
disappointed that conditions at the facility have deteriorated to this
point, but am confident that today's actions will remedy the
situation." The Coke County Juvenile Justice Center in Bronte,
operated by the Florida-based GEO Group Inc. since 2003, has a history of
abuse and neglect, including a 2006 suicide, allegations of sexual assault
that were settled out of court, and the 2004 death of a youth whose medical
conditions were ignored. As recently as this spring, the prison realized it
had hired a registered sex offender as a guard. An investigation by The Dallas
Morning News in July detailed problems at the facility. The coverage also
documented problems at GEO facilities in other states. A representative
from GEO could not be reached for comment on Monday. In the July article,
spokesman Pablo Paez told The News that the company strives to provide
high-quality service and always reviews serious incidents to determine
"what corrective actions, if any, can be taken." After reports
last month of unsanitary conditions at Coke County, acting TYC Executive
Director Dimitria Pope visited the facility last weekend for a surprise
audit. On Monday, she ordered that all youth be transferred to other TYC
units immediately. "TYC's No. 1 priority is the safety and well being
of those youths under our care," Ms. Pope said in a statement.
"The unsafe conditions I witnessed at Coke County this weekend are
unacceptable. We have zero tolerance for any form of abuse within the
system, and those responsible parties will be held accountable."
Despite the high-profile cases reported at the Coke County facility – and
the fact that at least two other states have closed their GEO facilities
over reports of abuse and neglect – GEO and the company's previous owner
were allowed to renew their contract in Texas at least seven times. GEO has
the highest rate of alleged abuse among all TYC contractors. This is hardly
the first time GEO has run into trouble in state juvenile justice systems.
The U.S. Justice Department sued the company in 2000, when it was known by
a different name, alleging that youth inmates in a Louisiana facility
suffered abuse and neglect. All youth were removed from the facility under
a settlement. Five years later, Michigan closed its state prison run by GEO
after budget problems and a lawsuit over poor inmate care. Until recently,
TYC has continued to give GEO high marks, awarding the Coke County outpost
its "contract facility of the year" award in 1999 and again in
2005. This despite a history of abuse and neglect at the facility,
including: • A 1999 lawsuit filed by former female inmates alleging sexual
abuse at the hands of Coke employees. The lawsuits, which involved girls
being forced into performing sexual act and dancing naked, were settled out
of court. • The death in 2004 of John Rodriguez, whose rashes, open sores and
spiking fever were overlooked for months by medical staff. • The hiring –
and eventual termination – of a registered sex offender to work as a prison
guard. The TYC acknowledged the GEO facility does its own hiring, and
wasn't held to the same standards as other non- contract prisons. • The
2006 suicide of Robert Shulze, a 19-year-old inmate who repeatedly
threatened to harm himself and lost 23 pounds in two months. Nurses never
put Mr. Shulze on suicide watch, and he hanged himself in his cell. Scott Browne,
a Beaumont attorney representing Mr. Schulze's family, commended the TYC on
Monday for its action. "I would hope that changes like this by TYC
would help ensure that no one else would suffer the way Robert Schulze
did," Mr. Brown said. "... Hopefully a move like this by TYC will
get the attention of anyone who wants to be in the private corrections
business."

July 29, 2007 The Dallas Morning News
Robert Schulze was scared. He threatened to harm himself unless he was
moved to another youth prison location. He lost 23 pounds in two months.
Ten days later, he hanged himself from the top bunk of his solitary cell.
Texas Youth Commission investigators presented a grim report on the
prison's failings to Gov. Rick Perry and other state officials in February.
They could have discovered even more disturbing details had they looked
beyond Texas' borders. A three-month Dallas Morning News investigation
found that private contractors housing juvenile inmates in Texas repeatedly
have lost contracts or shuttered operations in other states after
investigators uncovered mismanagement, neglect and physical and sexual
abuse. In Colorado, a suicide finally prompted state officials to close a
private youth prison that investigators said was plagued by violence and
sexual abuse. In Arkansas, former employees of a private juvenile facility
said inmates were shackled and left naked on the ground in sleeping bags.
And in Michigan, a private contractor was sued for allegedly allowing
mentally ill inmates to languish in solitary confinement. Last year, TYC
spent nearly $17 million of its $249 million budget to do business with
these and other private contractors. The agency houses about 450 young
inmates with 13 private operators. Legislative reforms passed in the wake
of the TYC sex abuse scandal largely overlooked private contractors and
focused instead on agency-run prisons. "They are a much under-examined
problem in the TYC system," said Scott Medlock, a prisoners' rights
attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project, which has filed a class-action
lawsuit against TYC alleging widespread inmate abuse. The News focused its
investigation on three private contractors with the largest number of TYC
inmates and high numbers of complaints – GEO Group, Cornerstone Programs
Corp. and Associated Marine Institutes. Those contractors have been dogged
by problems in Texas strikingly similar to what led officials in other
states to take action. Such problems include difficulties in attracting
qualified employees, high turnover rates and inadequate care for inmates –
sometimes with tragic consequences. States that hire contractors with poor
performance records "obviously have a very low regard for our
children," said Isabelle Zehnder, director of the Coalition Against
Institutionalized Child Abuse, a child advocacy organization in Washington
state. "They're letting money or circumstances stand above
children." But Michele Deitch, an expert on prison privatization at
the University of Texas at Austin, said research showed that privatization
did not save money and that "private facilities tend to have many more
problems in performance, such as higher levels of assaults, escapes,
idleness." TYC officials said they were reviewing the agency's
policies on contractors but could not comment about changes under
consideration. However, just days after detailed questioning by The News,
TYC canceled bid requests for new contract facilities. Bidders included
contractors currently operating facilities in Texas that had a history of
problems in other states. The vetting process -- TYC first turned to
contractors in 1974 to relieve overcrowding. Contract care facilities vary
from group homes to large prisons, and over the years contractors have come
to provide specialized services not available at TYC prisons, such as care
for pregnant inmates. TYC's executive director makes the final decision to
hire a private contractor after a five-phase review process that includes
checks on the contractor's ability to provide adequate medical care and
educational and behavioral treatment. Companies with contracts terminated
in the last year "for deficiencies in performance" anywhere in
the country are ineligible to bid. And, under a new policy enacted in March
as the TYC sex abuse scandal unfolded, the agency reserved the right to
declare ineligible bidders with canceled contracts in the last three years.
"We ask for contracts [canceled] within 36 months, because this
provides us with additional information that might be important – [such as]
funding, or lack of funding," said Mark Higdon, TYC's business manager
for contract programs. "It might not be performance. It might be
something else, and we can look at that also." While a contract
cancellation would clearly be a red flag for TYC, there are many loopholes
through which worrisome contractors can pass. Arkansas officials, for
example, let an agreement with Associated Marine Institutes expire after an
audit found the contractor had mismanaged its billing and failed to provide
proper services to young inmates. Elsewhere, companies have negotiated
deals allowing them to withdraw from their contracts, or simply shut down
after states have removed youth from their facilities. Neither of these
would constitute a terminated contract as defined by Texas. Critics say
that TYC requires private contractors to provide less background
information when bidding than it should. For example, TYC does not request
major incident reports or disclosure of lawsuits against contractors, nor
does it do any independent research. In Florida, by contrast, companies
must list and explain any "correctional facility disturbances" –
major incidents, such as escapes or deaths – in any of the company's
prisons. Such disturbances may be the result of inadequate staffing, poor
training or other factors and raise warnings about a company's practices.
TYC should require contractors to provide all incident reports, said Ms.
Deitch, a lawyer with 20 years' experience in criminal justice policy
issues. "It is absolutely important that the contracting agency has this
kind of background info," she said. "If problems occur, there can
be liability concerns for the state agency, and the costs of dealing with
the problems can far exceed any savings from going with a low-cost
contractor." Elizabeth Lee, the new acting coordinator for TYC
contract care, acknowledged the agency has no "established process for
collecting information" on how its contractors performed in other
states. The important thing to consider, she said, is what they're doing in
Texas "and what we're doing to monitor the care of our kids."
Correcting contractors -- TYC regularly reviews contract facilities. It
checks program areas, such as staffing and security, at least once a year.
It also uses statistical information, such as rates of confirmed mistreatment
and the number of escapes, to evaluate operators. TYC quality assurance
monitors also make at least two unannounced visits per year. If a facility
has significant problems, it is put on a corrective action plan, which
outlines improvements and deadlines for them. The Coke County youth prison,
for example, was placed on a corrective action plan in February after
Robert Schulze's suicide. The plan required Coke to improve staffing and
procedures in solitary confinement. Records show that Coke was also placed
on a corrective action plan in July 2006 for deficiencies in case
management, which includes inmate monitoring and record keeping. Earlier
this month, TYC monitors visited WINGS for Life in Marion, just outside San
Antonio, which houses female inmates and their babies, to follow up on a
corrective action plan necessitated by deficiencies in staff training and
documentation. "If a facility fails any critical measure, we have to
come back and check it," said Jim Humphrey, the TYC quality assurance supervisor
for WINGS. TYC has the authority to fine contractors for problems, but it
has never done so in 33 years of outsourcing, officials said. "If it
comes to that, we would just stop the contract," said Paula Morelock,
who recently retired after 17 years as TYC's contract care coordinator. But
it rarely does that. The News could find only a few instances of TYC not
renewing contracts because of poor performance. TYC is required to retain
contractor records for only a few years, so a full review of the program was
not possible. In 2001, TYC terminated its contract with FIRST Program of
Texas in Longview after repeated problems. One young woman said that when
she was at FIRST, it had chronic staff shortages. "A lot of stuff took
place that shouldn't have," said Michelle, a 22-year-old who asked
that only her first name be used. "There were lots of problems ...
like staff having sex with the youth there and improper restraints and lack
of supervision." In 2004, TYC removed its youth from the Hemphill
County Juvenile Facility, then run by Correctional Services Corp., a former
state contractor, because of "grave concerns for the safety of
youth." The move followed a December 2003 complaint signed by about 30
inmates. Still, an agency review conducted shortly after the letter was
sent gave the facility "above average" scores on all performance
measures. The facility was later placed on a corrective action plan. A
February 2004 update from TYC staff to Ms. Morelock said: "Although
they have not completed all items, the team does believe that youth are
safe and that the program is stable." But staffing shortages followed,
and in June 2004, TYC removed its youth from the facility. "We feel
like we do a lot of good monitoring and do our very best to ensure that the
youth receive quality services," Ms. Morelock said. When contracts
expire, TYC determines whether the facility met the terms of its agreement.
The contractor completes a renewal packet, and then youth commission
officials visit the facility to determine whether to extend the contract
for another two years. More often than not, Ms. Morelock said, contracts
are renewed. Critics say that TYC needs to change its policy and open the
process to outside bidders each time a contract comes up for renewal. A
question of oversight -- TYC already has come under fire for lax employment
guidelines that allowed contractors to hire convicted felons or even sex
offenders. A Texas state auditor report in March urged TYC to ban
contractors from hiring employees with convictions and to require
background checks of applicants. Even with background checks, some workers
with criminal records have slipped through. A registered sex offender
employed by the GEO-run Coke County Juvenile Justice Center was fired in
March. Ms. Morelock said the facility told TYC that it ran a background
check on the worker, but his criminal records did not turn up. GEO said the
correctional officer's prior record was not uncovered because juvenile
records in Texas are sealed. [See dallasnews.com for further GEO comment.]
The Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, which licenses county facilities,
found the Garza County Regional Juvenile Center in Post out of compliance
last year because it failed to do criminal background checks on employees
before they were hired. In a unique arrangement, TYC contracts with the
county, which in turn hired a private operator, Colorado-based Cornerstone
Programs, to run the Garza facility. TYC relied on the county to vet the
contractor's background, Ms. Morelock said. A Garza County official said he
did not know what, if any, backgrounding of Cornerstone had been done. It's
impossible to know whether other employees of private contract facilities
have criminal records because, unlike workers at state-run facilities,
their names are not public information. "The fact that [these]
facilities are private simply adds one more layer of opaqueness to the
process," said Ms. Deitch, the UT adjunct professor. A few of the TYC
legislative reforms will carry over to private operators. Their guards'
training hours must match that of TYC employees, their younger inmates must
be separated from older ones, and contractors must now conduct fingerprint
background checks on all employees and volunteers in contact with youth.
"Some of the contractors were already doing that [fingerprinting], but
just as a safeguard we're putting it in the contract that they all have to
do it now," said the TYC's Ms. Lee. TYC officials say the most
valuable part of the agency's monitoring is staff visits to facilities. "They're
looking at grievances, they're talking to kids, they're talking to staff
and they're reviewing incident reports," Ms. Lee said. In general,
though, TYC relies heavily on its contractors to police themselves.
Contractors are required to forward inmate abuse allegations, although
agency monitors have raised concerns that not all make it to TYC.
Contractors also must report serious incidents to local law enforcement,
but TYC reviews found facilities that failed to do so. Critics of
privatized juvenile care think more state oversight is necessary.
"Child welfare and juvenile justice systems have both a legal and
moral obligation to protect kids from harm, which means they have a
responsibility to exercise due diligence when it comes to placing youths in
certain types of facilities," said Dr. Ronald Davidson, a university
psychologist frequently hired by the Illinois Department of Children and
Family Services to review juvenile care. "Whether we look at this
situation in terms of public policy or simple morality, the question we
have to ask is whether our society ought to be in the business of funding
gulags for children."

July 29, 2007 The Dallas Morning News
The Coke County Juvenile Justice Center, run by the GEO Group Inc., is
Texas' largest private juvenile prison and has had the highest rate of
alleged abuse among TYC's contractors over the last seven years. The
Florida-based GEO has renewed, extended or renegotiated its contract with
the Texas Youth Commission at least seven times since it first won the
contract to run the Coke facility in June 1994. During that time, at least
two other states have closed their GEO-run juvenile facilities because of
inadequate care of inmates and abuse allegations. The U.S. Justice
Department sued the company in 2000, when it was known as Wackenhut
Corrections Corp., alleging that juveniles at the company's Louisiana
facility were subjected to excessive abuse and neglect. Wackenhut agreed to
a settlement that provided for sweeping changes to Louisiana's juvenile
justice system and required the company to move all juveniles from its
facility. The former security chief pleaded guilty in 2001 to beating a
17-year-old handcuffed inmate with a mop handle. In October 2005, Michigan
closed the state's private youth prison run by GEO after an advocacy group
sued the prison over inadequate inmate care. Budget shortfalls also played
into the prison's closure. Tom Masseau, director of government and media
relations for Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service Inc., said his
watchdog group found juvenile inmates who needed special education but were
not receiving it and inmates who were not receiving appropriate mental
health care. The prison also managed problem juveniles by putting them in
solitary confinement, he said. Mr. Masseau said his group tried to work
with GEO and the state before filing a lawsuit, but the problems remained
unsolved and inmates faced reprisals. "The youth would report back
that they were retaliated against for meeting with us," Mr. Masseau
said. "We said enough is enough." The group's lawsuit against the
state is pending, but GEO was dropped as a defendant because it closed the
facility and left the state. GEO sued the state for alleged wrongful
termination of the lease agreement, which is also pending. TYC accolades --
In 1999, TYC named GEO's Coke County operation its "contract facility
of the year." The same year, former female inmates filed several
federal civil rights lawsuits alleging they were sexually abused by Coke
employees. (TYC had moved all girls from the facility a year earlier.) The
lawsuits – which eventually resulted in confidential settlements – were
filed four years after TYC confirmed allegations that some staff members
coerced girls into performing sexual acts or dancing naked, according to a
court document and a report by Michele Deitch, a prison privatization
expert at the University of Texas, and others. "Given GEO's track
record generally and the general record of these for-profit private prison
companies, I have serious concerns about them running any correctional
institutions ... especially when such egregious wrongdoing was going
on," Scott Medlock, an attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project,
said. The Coke County facility routinely hired unqualified workers, said
Isela Gutierrez, juvenile justice initiative director at the Texas Criminal
Justice Coalition. Former Coke County guard John Christman, who now lives
in New York, said he witnessed that problem firsthand. He worked there for
nearly a year and said he initially loved it. But he eventually grew
frustrated with the company's poor hiring standards and staff shortages.
The company met its guard-to-inmate ratios by making employees work extra
shifts, he said. "I was working five, six days a week, 12-hour days,
overtime," Mr. Christman said. "It's hard to get people to go
into that line of work." He quit his post but returned about 18 months
later, in 2001, after he heard that working conditions had improved.
Unfortunately, he said, not much had changed and he left shortly thereafter.
TYC again named Coke County contract facility of the year in 2005. And,
during the past seven years, TYC quality-assurance monitors have awarded it
mostly good scores on planned and unplanned inspections there. But some
recent problems were reported: During an unscheduled visit in April, a TYC
monitor discovered that a staff member had falsified an accusation against
an inmate. The young man was put in solitary confinement on April 16. Two
days later – on the morning of the unannounced visit – his paperwork already
noted that he'd committed an infraction that would extend his stay in
solitary confinement. "This was alarming because it was only 9:30 a.m.
and the incident had not occurred yet," the monitor reported. The TYC
monitor notified the warden, who released the inmate from solitary and told
the security director "that writing incident reports prior to the
incident was not allowed," the report said. Suicide inquiry -- TYC's
investigation into Robert Schulze's suicide offers a bleak picture of the
facility. "Robert's cries for help – to be assigned to a dorm where he
felt safe or to be transferred to Gainesville State School – were never
adequately addressed," a February 2007 report noted. A guard promptly
turned in Robert's note in which he threatened to harm himself unless his
dorm assignment was changed. Robert then asked to go to solitary
confinement because he felt unsafe, but he was not put on suicide watch. He
stayed in solitary confinement for nine days, refusing to return to his
dorm because of safety concerns. His case manager made only one documented
visit with him during that period. He was not given prescribed medication
during his time at Coke and lost 23 pounds in two months. No one checked
his food intake. None of that was brought to the doctor's attention, and a
medical review was never conducted, the TYC investigation revealed. The
nursing staff also "failed to discover three original prescriptions
for antidepressants and a mood stabilizer that had been prescribed by a
consulting psychiatrist ... on July 28," TYC later reported. Eight
days before Robert hanged himself on Sept. 28, 2006, "he filed a TYC
complaint form stating that he makes self-referrals to ... [solitary
confinement] to get away from harm and people who threaten him," TYC
said in its report. It's not clear anyone saw the complaint before his
death. "The form got lost in a stack of mail on the TYC staff member's
desk," the investigative report said. TYC's investigation found that
Coke County's solitary cell unit had only one staffer on the floor – in
violation of the required two guards – at the time of the hanging. The one
guard on duty failed to make contact with each inmate every 10 minutes, as
required. For more than an hour, no one checked on the despondent inmate.
After Robert's dinner tray arrived, it sat for 28 minutes before the guard
took it to his cell and discovered him unresponsive. The guard was
disciplined with training and five days of unpaid suspension. TYC put the
facility on a corrective action plan, which required it to improve the
deficiencies that contributed to Robert's death. GEO spokesman Pablo Paez
said the company strives to provide high-quality service and conducts
thorough reviews after any serious incident to determine "what
corrective actions, if any, can be taken." An attorney for the family
of the 19-year-old said they had no comment.

March 12, 2007 The MonitorTwo detainees of a Texas Youth Commission contract prison in West Texas
are missing. The boys, ages 17 and 18, were both non-violent offenders. One
is serving time in the high-security facility for burglary of a vehicle;
the other for violating conditions of parole, said Jim Hurley, TYC
spokesman. They are missing from the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center in
Bronte, which is run by GEO Inc. At about 3 a.m. Monday a vent fell from a
ceiling dorm, prompting guards to conduct a bed count, Hurley said. They
discovered four youth were missing, but two were later found, he said.
Hurley said TYC would not release the names or description of the missing youth
because they were not considered to be a danger to the public. It is
possible the youth are still inside the facility because there is so far no
indication the razor-wire fence that surrounds the Coke County center was
breached, Hurley said. Monday’s discovery at the 200-bed facility is
another in a long line of problems at the TYC. The agency that runs the
Evins Regional Juvenile Center in Edinburg was placed governor-appointed
management in February among a sex scandal and wide reports of youth abuse.

March 10, 2007 KRIS TVA convicted sex offender who was fired this week from his job at a West
Texas youth prison said he told his employer of his background when he
applied for the job. David Andrew Lewis, 23, was fired from the Texas Youth
Commission's Coke County Juvenile Justice Center when state investigators
discovered he was a convicted sex offender. State leaders dispatched law
enforcement officials to all 22 commission facilities and its headquarters
this week to investigate claims of sexual abuse of inmates by employees.
Lewis was fired by the GEO Group, a Florida-based private company that runs
the all-male facility in Bronte, about 30 miles northeast of San Angelo.
Lewis said Thursday that he showed a sex offender registration card to his
prospective employers when he was being interviewed for a job as a
correctional officer in August 2006. "They said to wait for the
background check to go through," Lewis said, adding that he also
presented other paperwork related to his offense. Lewis was 15 when he was
convicted in 1999 of indecency by exposure with a 5-year-old girl,
according to a Texas Department of Public Safety Web site listing sex
offenders. He is required to register annually as a sex offender. Pablo
Paez, director of corporate relations for the GEO Group, said the company
conducts background checks on new hires and re-runs the checks annually.
The Texas Department of Public Safety checks off on the company's
employees, he said. "In this particular case, we conducted a
background check through DPS and received clearance from DPS," Paez
said. The Texas Department of Public Safety, which does not make public the
records of juvenile offenders, referred a call for comment to Gov. Rick
Perry's office. Perry spokesman Ted Royer said the case highlights why the
special master and new executive director "are going to completely
rewrite the playbook" for how the agency operates. "Having sex
offenders guard prisoners is totally unacceptable, and if an agency
contract prohibits the hiring of registered sex offenders then that needs
to be enforced," Royer told The Associated Press on Friday.
"There needs to be a clear delineation of consequences if a contractor
goes against those rules." State officials have said Lewis' case
demonstrated that private prison operators don't always check their
employees' juvenile records. Texas Youth Commission spokesman Tim Savoy
said the agency's contracts with the private operators prohibit hiring
registered sex offenders, but the agency doesn't "have any control over
who they hire."

March 7, 2007 San Antonio Express-News
Law enforcement officers who earlier this week moved into the Texas Youth
Commission facilities to protect inmates from sex predators on Wednesday
discovered a registered sex offender working as a correctional officer in a
halfway house for juveniles. The sex offender had been allowed to stay on
the job despite an alert that had been sent months ago to TYC
administrators in Austin. David Andrew Lewis, 23, was discovered by
investigators sent to TYC's 22 facilities after reports of sex abuse
stunned lawmakers. Lewis was employed at the Coke County Juvenile Justice
Center, a juvenile halfway house 30 miles from San Angelo run by the Geo
Group, a private prison company. TYC's acting executive director, Ed Owens,
said a facility staff member had months ago warned agency officials in
Austin of Lewis' sex offender status, but was rebuffed. The tipster “was
told he was a company employee and that the company needed to deal with
their employee,” Owens said, adding that the incident was yet another
illustration of the systemic failures plaguing TYC. Owens said once he
learned of Lewis' background Wednesday, he called the Geo Group and they
suspended him. It was not clear if the Geo Group had learned months earlier
of Lewis' sex offender status. No one in its Florida headquarters could
immediately be reached for comment Wednesday evening. Owens said that there
was no evidence Lewis acted inappropriately with any juveniles. Lewis was
15 when he was forced to register for 13 sexual indecency acts against a
5-year-old girl. His case is posted on the Texas Department of Public
Safety web site of registered sex offenders. With that history, it remained
a mystery how Lewis could have been hired to work with juveniles in the first
place. Criminal background checks are required for all TYC employees and
those hired by private contractors to work with TYC juveniles.

July 27, 2001Inmate awards were upheld by an appeals court in
a case where young inmates said they were sexually abused by Wackenhut
Corrections Corporation employees. But the inmates' attorney was sanctioned
for disclosing the terms of the confidential agreement. (Corrections
Professional)

May 17, 2001
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a district court's
decision to levy a $15,000 fine and imposed a number of sanctions on
attorneys representing nine girls held at the juvenile detention facility
in this West Texas city. During mediation in 1999, the former detainees'
attorneys reached a $1.5 million settlement agreement with Wackenhut
Corrections Corp. The girls had alleged they were sexually, physically, and
mentally abused by employees. (AP)

Coleman Hall facility, Philadelphia,
PANov 22, 2017 morningsidemaryland.com
The Geo Group To Close Philadelphia Facility, Lay Off 51 EmployeesThe Geo Group, Inc. filed a Workers Adjustment and Retraining
Notification with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry earlier
this month. The notice indicates the Florida-based company will close its
Coleman Hall facility at 3950 D Street and lay off 51 employees. The Geo
Group, formerly known as Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, is the leading
provider of detention, correctional and community reentry services,
according to its website. The company operates 73 facilities worldwide,
including 66 in the United States. Employee separations are expected to
taken place on November 20. The reason for the closure was not cited in the
filing.
Columbiana County JailPennsylvaniaJun 16, 2018 .salemnews.net Jail operation problems become alarming(Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part story examining issues
at the Columbiana County Jail.)
LISBON –At least as big an issue as cost is whether Columbiana County
should resume operating the jail because of problems at the facility. Most
of the problems appear to be with jail operations, and staff turnover at
the jail has been a contributing factor in recent years due to low starting
pay, resulting in the jail being understaffed. County Prosecutor Robert
Herron said you cannot expect to attract qualified applicants to be a
corrections officer for what GEO pays. “That shouldn’t be news to anyone,
but someone starting off being paid $10 an hour is not going to be able to
control a gangbanger,” he said. “It just isn’t going to happen.” Starting
pay until recently was $10.91 but has since been raised to $14. Herron said
there is no question the situation at the county jail has worsened in
recent years to the point where he is alarmed. “When CiviGenics came in we
didn’t have the … concerns we have now,” he said. “I think the problem is
management and operations have deteriorated significantly, (as well as) the
type of inmates they are expected to control.” CiviGenics is the company
that ran the jail from 1998 until 2007, when the company was purchased by
Community Education Centers. GEO took over jail operations in early 2017
after acquiring CEC. Between the fall of 2015 and November 2017 the jail
went through six wardens. “I think that’s a direct reflection of what we’re
talking about,” Herron said. During the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation
and Corrections 2017 inspection of the facility, it found the jail met 220
of the 231 jail standards. The jail was non-compliant with minimum staffing
standards, and it was not properly able to house inmates at times due to
overcrowding, resulting in violent and non-violent offenders being housed
in the same cell and same unsupervised areas. The jail was also cited for
failing to follow its own policies requiring periodic personal inmate inspections
and those inspections be documented, reinforce staffing policies and
procedures, and conduct fire drills every three months. As Herron mentioned
above, part of the problem at the jail is the general character of the
average inmate has changed. He said they are seeing more and more inmates
with long criminal records who have served multiple stints in prison.
Increased drug trafficking in the county has brought gang members from
large cities, such as Cleveland, and how they conduct themselves in jail
has rubbed off on local inmates. “They have no respect for anything and are
much more violent … You have someone who doesn’t give a damn about
themselves or anyone else,” Herron said. “The type of inmates we deal with
today are different than the inmates we dealt with 15-20 years ago.” When
combined with inexperienced and insufficiently trained corrections
officers, “you have a real dangerous situation,” he said. Over the past
year, county Common Pleas Court Judge C. Ashley Pike has begun questioning
inmates and corrections officers about jail operations when they appear
before him in court. Pike said he was originally in favor of privatizing
the jail but now he is not so sure. “I thought it was an interesting and
innovative approach … I certainly thought it was worth a try,” he said.
“But in recent years my perception is … that the concept is not working
well, and I have to say, as some lawyers have said, if it’s such a good
idea, why aren’t the other 87 counties (in Ohio) following?” Pike said. His
chief concern is the jail appears to be understaffed and poorly run to the
point where the safety of inmates and corrections officers are in jeopardy.
“The fact we may have saved lots of money over the years is good. But that
is of little comfort to somebody who loses a loved one out there, whether
it be an inmate, a corrections officer or probation officers who have a
legitimate reason to be out there,” Pike said. As a judge responsible for
sentencing criminals to jail, Pike believes he has a duty to stay informed
about the safety of the facility, which is why he has been asking
questions. “I think the public needs to know and I think I need to know,”
he said, adding at least two recent grand juries have expressed similar
concerns. “All I’m trying to do is verify information from everybody’s
perspective.” County Sheriff Ray Stone was asked for his thoughts about how
the jail is being operated. “There is no problem with the jail. Didn’t you
read the stories?” he said, referring to stories about officials saying some
of the reported problems are overstated. By law, the sheriff is responsible
for jail operations. While Stone said he is concerned about the safety of
the corrections officers, inmates and his staff, he said the jail is the
responsibility of county commissioners. “My name is nowhere on the
contract. All I can do is continue to do what we can, which is tell our
problems to the warden, and lately he has been addressing them,” Stone
said. The sheriff said he will continue to have his deputies walk through the
jail to check on conditions whenever they have the time. These impromptu
inspections are turned into reports included with the regular sheriff’s
reports made available to the news media, resulting in stories about
problems at the jail. Pike believes the county needs to at least consider
looking into taking the jail back. “It just appears to me the matter needs
to be revisited. If it’s working in some respects, fine, and if isn’t
working we need to be willing to admit it,” he said. County Commissioner Mike
Halleck believes the problems can be fixed and Warden Mike Curley, hired in
August, is the right man for the job. On May 23, Halleck unveiled a plan
aimed at addressing many of the problems, including hosting weekly meetings
with Stone and Curley to improve communications and resolve problems. A new
camera system and body scanner are being added, and GEO has begun paying
its workers a better wage and providing more training. Herron has said he
is also confident the problems with be addressed based on what he heard
during a recent meeting with Halleck, Curley and a GEO official. Halleck
said many of the incidents that have garnered media attention in recent
months — assaults, smuggled contraband and inmates jimmying the locks– are
the types of things that occur in every jail. He concedes staffing and
training issues have likely contributed to the frequency of those problems
and others, however. “I’m not going to defend what has occurred out there,
but people need to be reminded this is a jail. So when you have 150-some
bad people altogether in one place, bad things are going to happen,” he
said. Curley issued a statement saying GEO is working to address the
problems, some of which, such as staffing, are common at jails. “While
operational reviews and assessments are ongoing, GEO has implemented
measures to remedy the recent operational challenges in conjunction with
the county commissioners’ office, as well as the county sheriff. This
includes weekly meetings with the county commissioner and sheriff and the development
of corrective action plans to address any issues,” he said. “Furthermore,
GEO has taken steps to recruit additional staff at the Columbiana County
Jail, such as raising the starting pay rate for correctional officers and
support staff, as well as implementing additional post-specific training in
conjunction with in-process, in-service training. This includes assigning
several temporary duty staff positions to the facility,” Curley concluded.Nov 18,
2017 morningjournalnews.com Another warden bids county jail adieuLISBON — Another warden has come and gone at the Columbiana County
Jail. Columbiana County Jail. County
Sheriff Ray Stone confirmed that Bill Cole quit as warden on Nov. 3 and has
been replaced by Mike Curley, who is the sixth warden at the facility in
the past 24 months. Cole’s stay was four months, which is about the average
since longtime warden Gary Grimm retired in 2015. Unlike the other four
wardens, Cole lived nearby — just over the border in Bessemer, Pa. — and
his wife worked at the federal prison in Elkton. Cole had recently retired
as deputy warden with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Curley
reportedly is a retired warden from the Michigan Department of Corrections.
The GEO Group operates the jail under contract with county commissioners.
Commissioner Mike Halleck, who serves as the board’s point man on the jail,
admitted he was a bit surprised by the latest departure, but that is the
nature of the business. “It’s not unusual in the corrections field,
especially in the private sector, to have frequent turnover,” he said.
Halleck remains unconcerned by the seemingly endless revolving door of jail
wardens since the fall of 2015, as long as the facility continues to pass
state inspections and is operated safely and within the law. “It’s not the
way I would do business, but that’s not our concern, nor should it be,” he
said. “That’s why we have a contract with them.” The contract with GEO was
recently renewed by commissioners for two years. “I understand some people
might be concerned, but I’m more concerned about the victims,” Halleck
said. Halleck also confirmed that for the first time since the jail was
privatized 20 years ago the cost will exceed $4 million in 2017. The county
pays a per day inmate fee to GEO, so the more inmates housed at the jail,
the higher the cost to the county. Halleck believes the high incarceration
rates at the 192-bed jail are being driven by the record number of drug
arrests, and he estimated it has added $1 million to the cost of operating
the jail. “The drug crisis is bankrupting American in some ways,” Halleck
said.

Jul 24, 2017 salemnews.netNew county
jail warden introduced, hopes to buck recent trendLISBON —
The Columbiana County jail has a new warden who hopes to stick around
longer than his predecessors. Bill Cole was introduced last week to county
commissioners as the latest warden, becoming the fifth person to hold that
position since late 2015. Cole recently retired after 20 years with the
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, most recently as deputy
superintendent (equivalent of deputy warden) of the 1,803-bed state prison
in Pittsburgh. Cole said the state decided to close the Pittsburgh
facility, so he decided to retire. His wife works at the federal prison in
nearby Elkton, and they live with their children just over the state line
in Bessemer, Pa. Cole, who holds a master’s degree in corrections
administration/criminal justice from Youngstown State University, will draw
on his experience to hopefully bring about changes that will benefit
employees and inmates. Cole also said he intends to stay, which would be a
welcome change from the past 20 months. Four other jail wardens have come
and gone during that period, with the most recent departure occurring in
late May after only two months on the job. Commissioner Mike Halleck is
also hopeful Cole will stick around for a while. “We’re very pleased … I
think the new guy will bring a lot of experience and consistency,” he said.
Commissioners have been contracting with a private company to operate the
192-bed jail since 1998. The most recent company is Community Education
Centers, which was sold to the GEO Group earlier in the year. “There’s been
what we call a positive change in upper management” since GEO took over,
Halleck said. Commissioners
have some staffing concerns they expect Cole to address, Halleck said. GEO
was also given a list of concerns about how the jail is being run from
county Sheriff Ray Stone and county Prosecutor Robert Herron, but he
declined to get into specifics because they are security issues. Halleck is
confident GEO will address these concerns.
Colorado Department of Corrections
March 6, 2007 Greeley Tribune
Saying GEO Group Inc. can't be trusted, a Pueblo lawmaker asked state
officials Monday to rescind a contract with the company to build a private
prison in Ault. Plans for the prison, which would house 1,500 inmates and
would be built east of the railroad tracks along U.S. 85, has stalled on
two fronts. Ault leaders decided they would not approve the facility until
the public voted on it, and GEO wants to change its contract to ensure
payment for its beds. Rep. Liane "Buffie" McFadyen, D-Pueblo
West, a vocal critic of private prisons, said Monday that the proposed
change and other issues regarding GEO's integrity should negate the Ault
contract. “Anybody living in Ault should be concerned that a company that
would bid this way on a contract might have a business in their town,"
she said. Philip Tidwell, spokesman for the town group Coalition Against Ault
Prison, said residents hope no one else bids on the Ault prison if GEO's
contract is rescinded. "We just do not want any private prison,
whether it be GEO or Cornell or anyone else," he said. A spokesman for
GEO did not return calls seeking comment. McFadyen said the company is
attempting to do the same things in Ault that derailed plans for a GEO
facility in Pueblo. In 2003, GEO won a contract for a 1,100-bed, pre-parole
and parole revocation facility in Pueblo, and after almost four years of
delays, the state pulled the contract last fall. The company never broke
ground on the facility. "The state of Colorado was held hostage for
four years waiting for those beds," McFadyen said. The delays included
zoning issues in Pueblo and GEO's attempt to obtain guaranteed payments on
90 percent of its beds, regardless of whether the beds were occupied. That
is something state leaders have opposed and which may even be impossible
because of state laws, McFadyen said. Now, GEO is trying for guaranteed bed
payments in Ault, she said. "You have to question the integrity of the
2006 bid," she said. "If past performance is an indicator, I
suspect we will be in the same place we were in 2003 in Pueblo."
McFadyen said Ari Zavaras, the new director of the Department of
Corrections, told her he is opposed to bed guarantees. Corrections
spokeswoman Alison Morgan told the Associated Press that Zavaras will
review McFadyen's request and decide how to respond. The story of Ault's
possible prison goes back to late 2005, when Nolin Renfrow, former director
of prisons for the Department of Corrections, started working with GEO on a
bid for a private prison. Renfrow is under investigation for using state
sick leave to obtain the Ault contract on behalf of GEO. On Monday,
Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government, a watchdog group, filed an open
records request about the Ault bid. "We do not feel that the public's
interest was put forth in the procurement of this contract," said
Chantelle Taylor, spokeswoman for the watchdog group. A state audit found
Renfrow's business activities "arguably present a conflict of interest
and result in a breach of ... the public trust." That breach, coupled
with GEO's attempt to change its Pueblo contract by adding the bed-payment
guarantee, should have prevented the company from getting the Ault bid in
the first place, McFadyen said. Tidwell agreed. "One thing the state
should recognize is (GEO) did not operate fairly," he said. "They
hired an insider knowing he worked for the state. In my mind, GEO has shown
itself to be not a company that operates fairly in the state of Colorado.

March 5, 2007 Rocky Mountain NewsRep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, and two reform groups today
formally requested the director of the Department of Corrections and the
governor rescind Geo Group’s bid to build a private prison in Ault. The
reasons cited included the company’s performance on a 2003 bid to build a
private prison in Pueblo. McFadyen said GEO Group lost its contract to
build the Pueblo facility because it delayed the start of construction,
then tried to renegotiate its contract to get a guarantee that it would be
paid for 90 percent occupancy, even if beds were not filled.
"Basically, the state of Colorado was held hostage for four years.
They didn’t even break ground," McFadyen said. In her letter to Ari
Zavaras, executive director of DOC, she said, "It would appear that
the state’s best interests were not served by allowing GEO group to bid any
contract with the state because of its lack of performance on tis 2003
award." Officials with Geo Group could not be reached for comment
Monday afternoon. Alison Morgan, spokeswoman for the DOC, said Zavaras was
aware of the letter being sent by McFadyen, but had not seen it Monday.
"Since he was not with the department during the RFP (request for
proposals) process, it is an issue that he is still studying and is being
briefed on," said Morgan. "Once he has all the information,
including McFadyen’s letter, he would welcome an opportunity to sit down
and talk to her."

January 31, 2007 Rocky Mountain News
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is taking over the probe of a retired
state prison official who stands to be paid $1 million for helping a
private prison company win a state bid. Nolin Renfrow, former state prisons
director, openly became a consultant to the Geo Group and helped it win a
$14 million- per-year deal to house 1,500 inmates in a private prison
proposed in Ault. A state audit said Renfrow began the work for Geo while
still on the state payroll. It also said that he is to collect a $1 million
fee if the prison is built. State employees are prohibited from providing
paid assistance to anyone to win state contracts or economic benefits.
State law also prohibits activities that constitute a conflict of interest.
Ari Zavaras, who became prisons chief with the new administration several
weeks ago, said he asked the CBI to take over the investigation to
"overcome the perception that it won't be a thorough
investigation." Renfrow said Tuesday, "I understand why he would
do that, and I just hope it comes to quick resolution." The Department
of Corrections had been investigating. Its report was to have been given to
prosecutors if warranted. Zavaras said he is letting the CBI decide whether
the probe will become a criminal investigation.

December 16, 2006 The GazetteState prison officials have canceled a contract for a new private
prison in Pueblo, a move that casts doubt on how much Colorado will be able
to rely on private prisons while it copes with a crowding crisis. The GEO Group,
which was awarded a contract in 2003 to build the Pueblo pre-release
prison, has also been contracted to build and operate a prison in Ault, in
northeastern Colorado. But the same issue that doomed the Pueblo project —
the company’s insistence it be guaranteed nearly full occupancy — could
derail the latter prison, because GEO is making a similar demand. “If GEO’s
going to demand a bed guarantee, they need to leave the state,” said state
Rep. Buffie McFadyen, a Pueblo Democrat and leading critic of private
prisons. “It is not the job of the Colorado taxpayers to ensure profits for
this corporation.” The Pueblo prison was delayed repeatedly: by zoning
issues, by a legal challenge from a prison-reform group and by several
revisions to the plan by GEO. But the final impasse began this summer, when
the company asked for a 90 percent minimum occupancy guarantee for the
prison, which wasn’t a condition of the original proposal and was opposed
by Department of Corrections officials. Private prisons are paid a daily
rate per inmate by the state, currently $52. Last month, the DOC denied a
contract-extension request, and on Thursday informed the company that it
was canceling the contract. “Ground has not broken, and GEO has given no
indication when, or even if, it plans to commence construction,” DOC
executive director Joe Ortiz wrote. “Our patience cannot be infinite.” The
department is facing an acute crowding problem. Years of canceled
prison-construction projects and steady growth in court caseloads have created
a shortage of prison beds. The DOC this week began shipping 720 inmates out
of state, a temporary solution until new beds become available. With only
one state prison under construction, Colorado State Penitentiary II in
Cañon City, the DOC this year awarded contracts to three companies to build
prisons for 3,776 inmates. The GEO Group’s proposed 1,500-bed prison in
Ault is a major part of the plan. Alison Morgan, head of private-prison
monitoring for the DOC, said the department still expects GEO to follow
through on its proposal in Ault. “We are treating the Pueblo facility and
the Ault facility separately. We have from Day 1, and we will continue to
do so,” Morgan said Friday. However, GEO is making the same demand for
guaranteed occupancy for the Ault prison. Asked whether the DOC is still
opposed to a guarantee, she said, “It is a policy decision to be addressed
by the new administration (of Gov.-elect Bill Ritter) and the General
Assembly.” The local community isn’t even sure it wants a prison. Ault’s
town board last month passed an ordinance requiring voter approval for the
prison. No election date has been set. McFadyen said she doesn’t believe
GEO ever intended to complete the Pueblo prison, and she doubts the
company’s ability and will to follow through in Ault. “We’ve been set back
three years in our planning,” McFadyen said. “I think that kind of delay is
unacceptable, and we’ll learn from this experience and not allow another
contract to drag on for three years.” A call to a spokesman in the company’s
Boca Raton, Fla., headquarters was not returned Friday afternoon. An audit
requested by Mc-Fadyen regarding the bidding process for the Ault prison
was released this week. It showed that a top DOC official set up a
consulting business to help GEO win the bid while he was employed by the
state. Because the DOC is based in Colorado Springs, the office of 4th
Judicial District Attorney John Newsome will receive the results of the
investigation and determine whether any law was broken. Morgan said the DOC
will issue a new request for proposals for a pre-release prison.

December 16, 2006 ABC 7 NewsThe state has cut off negotiations and rescinded a contract with
developers planning to build a private prison in Pueblo. Colorado
Department of Corrections executive director Joe Ortiz sent a letter Friday
to the GEO Group, ending six months of negotiations. The letter cites
numerous delays and unresolved issues and says the department has run out
of patience with the developers. The Florida-based GEO Group had been
working for about four years to build the 1,000-bed prison near the Pueblo
Memorial Airport industrial park. Construction never got under way. The
prison would have been for pre-parole prisoners and prisoners who had seen
their parole status revoked. GEO bought about 36 acres for the facility
last year, but negotiations with the state broke down over the company's
demand that the DOC guarantee 90 percent occupancy and grant a 30-year
contract. GEO operates private detention centers in 15 states and one
Canadian province as well as in South Africa, Australia and the United
Kingdom. The Pueblo facility is one of two the company was planning in
Colorado. The company's Web site also indicates GEO in 2003 was awarded a
contract to develop a 1,000-bed immigration detention facility in the
Denver suburb of Aurora. A DOC spokeswoman says the department will put the
Pueblo proposal back up for bid, with no promise the facility will still be
built in Pueblo.

December 14, 2006 Pueblo ChieftainA three-year effort to build a private prison facility at the Pueblo
Memorial Airport Industrial Park appears to be dead after the Colorado
Department of Corrections and the prison company reached an impasse over
guaranteed occupancies. On Tuesday, reports said that the DOC was working
with the attorney general's office to draft a letter to the GEO Group that
essentially kills the company's plans to build a 1,000-bed pre-parole and
parole revocation facility on 36 acres east of the city. GEO officials said
Wednesday they had not received any letter from the DOC, but also didn't
express much confidence a deal could be struck for the facility. "We
have been in negotiations with the Department of Corrections, but we don't
have any contract signed and at this time it does not appear there will be
one," said Pablo Paez, director of communications for the
Florida-based company. Paez confirmed reports from November that the
company was asking for a minimum occupancy guarantee for the facility and
also confirmed that the company was planning to go to the city of Pueblo
for help to build the prison. ± PLEASE SEE PRISON, 2APRISON / continued
from page 1A ± "We needed the guarantee to secure the lowest capital
cost through tax-exempt bonds," Paez said Thursday. "We would get
those through the local municipality." State Rep. Liane
"Buffie" McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, who has been a vocal critic of
the private prison industry, and state Rep. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, wrote a
letter to the city in May warning against using public funds to build the
facility. "I think it's very positive that the city of Pueblo is not
going to risk its credit rating on this project," McFadyen said
Wednesday. Officials from the DOC were not available Wednesday to comment
on whether the letter had to do with the occupancy guarantees, or the
result of an audit suggesting former Director of Prisons Nolin Renfrow may
have broken the law by helping GEO secure DOC approval to build a 1,500-bed
facility in Weld County, prior to his retirement in January. Paez said GEO
had no contact with Renfrow before March. Last month, DOC spokeswoman Kathy
Church told The Pueblo Chieftain that talks between the company and the DOC
over Pueblo's facility had stalled over the minimum occupancy guarantees
and had reached a critical point. "They need to either understand our
position and accept it or back out completely," Church said last
month. Church told The Chieftain that the DOC couldn't make any guarantees
without knowing how much money it had to spend. That money depends on what
the joint budget committee decides. McFadyen wondered Wednesday why those
guarantees weren't part of the original agreement when DOC solicited bids
for the Pueblo project. "If the DOC negotiated additional terms with
GEO, they would be the only private prison company to receive such
treatment and that's wrong," McFadyen said Wednesday. "I think
this goes to the point of how committed they were to coming to Pueblo in
the first place." The plans to build the facility started in 2003 when
GEO, then Wakenhut Corrections Company, proposed building the prison on the
West Side. Those plans eventually shifted to the airport and the city
approved a controversial agreement with GEO to build a 500- to 1,000-bed
facility. A year ago, GEO bought the property at the airport from the city
for $296,800. GEO's original plan was to build a 750-bed facility at the
airport, but got Planning and Zoning Approval in May to expand the facility
to 1,000 beds.

December 14, 2006 Denver PostResults of an investigation into former Colorado prisons director Nolin
Renfrow's conduct in office will be turned over to a district attorney
early next year, the Department of Corrections' inspector general said
Wednesday. Michael Rulo, who has been the agency's inspector general for
seven years, said his office has been cooperating with state auditors on
the probe. On Tuesday, the auditors announced that a "former senior-
level official" of the Department of Corrections launched a
prison-consulting business in August 2005, five months before he retired
from the department Jan. 31, and helped a private company land a state
prison contract. State Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, who requested
the audit, identified the official as Renfrow. The auditors found that
while still employed by DOC, Renfrow began working to assist prospective
bidders in developing proposals to his department for a private prison.
With his assistance, a company identified as the GEO Group was awarded the
contract for a 1,500-bed private prison at Ault. Auditors noted that state
employees are barred by law from outside employment that creates a conflict
of interest, and from helping people to win a contract with their agency
for a fee. Renfrow couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday. Rulo said the
results of his office's investigation will be turned over to El Paso County
District Attorney John Newsome, probably in January. The Department of
Corrections is based in that county. Rulo said a decision on whether to
file charges will be a "collaborative process" with prosecutors.
Kristen Holtzman, spokeswoman for Colorado Attorney General John Suthers,
said that Renfrow never contacted the attorney general's office to ask
whether his consulting business while still a DOC employee constituted a
conflict of interest.

December 12, 2006 Rocky Mountain NewsThe state Department of Corrections is seeking $500 million to build
new prisons for more than 5,000 more inmates over the next five years. The request
for new spending is being driven by a huge increase in prisoners and rising
financial demands from private prisons. One, the Geo Group, is demanding a
$1 billion revenue guarantee before going ahead with two prisons that it is
under contract to build for Colorado in Pueblo and Ault. Prisons chief Gary
Golder said he is waiting for the incoming administration of Gov.-elect
Bill Ritter to decide whether the state should provide any such guarantee.
Meanwhile, a former state prison official, Nolin Renfrow, is being
investigated for working on behalf of Geo to win the second of those
private prison contracts while still a state employee. Golder said the
results of the administrative investigation may be referred to prosecutors
for possible criminal charges. He wasn't sure what could be charged. He
said it might be considered malfeasance. Renfrew stands to be paid $1
million by Geo for his work if its second prison in Ault is built. But
meanwhile, the state is moving to yank Geo's first prison contract, for
Pueblo, because Geo has still not broken ground.

December 13, 2006 Pueblo ChieftainA former top official for the Colorado Department of Corrections may
have broken the law when he helped a private prison company win a state
contract earlier this year, an audit revealed Tuesday. Though the report
conducted by the state auditor doesn't name him, the audit centered on
Nolin Renfrow, former director of prisons for DOC. It even calls on the
department's inspector general to further investigate the matter and, if
warranted, refer it for possible prosecution. The audit, which was
requested by Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, showed that before
Renfrow retired in January, he had been working with a Florida-based
private prison company, GEO Group, to land a DOC contract to build a
1,500-bed prison in Weld County. That project is expected to cost an
estimated $100 million, for which Renfrow was to get a 1 percent fee - or
$1 million - for helping Weld County get the contract, the audit said. In
2003, GEO, which is based in Baca Raton, Fla., was awarded a contract to
build a 500-bed, prerelease prison near Pueblo Memorial Airport, which
still hasn't been built. Renfrow's replacement, Gary Golder, says the
department currently is working with the Attorney General's Office on a
letter to GEO that effectively would revoke the 2003 bid and end the Pueblo
project. Though the audit did not find any evidence that Renfrow disclosed
confidential information to GEO to help it win the Weld County bid, he may
have violated state laws, personnel rules and department regulations
regarding outside employment, the audit said. Neither Renfrow nor GEO
officials were available for comment. The audit found that prior to
Renfrow's retirement on Jan. 31, he filed articles of incorporation for a
private prison consulting firm, Patriot Business Solutions, in August 2005.
"Public records and interviews indicate that the former employee began
actively working on behalf of his prison consulting business as of November
2005," the audit said. "Neither the department nor the former
employee provided documentation showing that the employee requested or the
department approved the former employee's outside employment." The
contract was awarded to GEO in June, along with a separate contract to
Corrections Corporation of America to expand two of its existing private
prisons - in Bent and Kit Carson counties - by 720 beds. DOC time sheets
also showed that Renfrow "used a combination of annual, sick and
holiday leave" to remain on extended paid leave from November 2005
until his retirement date, the audit said. "Neither the department nor
the former employee provided evidence that (Renfrow) received the express
consent of his attending physician or appointing authority to engage in
outside work activities," the audit said. "As a result, we
question the former employee's use of about 240 hours of paid sick leave
benefits valued at about $14,000." McFadyen began to question
Renfrow's involvement immediately after GEO won the contract. The Pueblo
West lawmaker, a longtime critic of private prisons, questioned why such a
company would be awarded a new bid before it had made any progress on the
Pueblo prison. McFadyen also questioned why the department was even
considering a GEO request, which was made after winning the bid, to give it
a written guarantee that the new beds would be filled, something the state
has never provided to any of the five other existing private prisons in the
state. "I am still questioning the Colorado Department of Corrections
as to why GEO was allowed to bid another (project) when they have not
performed on the original 2003 project," McFadyen said. "GEO
Corporation is demanding that the state issue a mandatory guarantee of
filling beds. It is not the responsibility of Colorado taxpayers to ensure
the profits of this corporation. "There's no question that we're being
held hostage by GEO Group when other (private prison) vendors probably
would like to come in and bid those contracts," she added.

December 13, 2006 Rocky Mountain NewsA retired state prison official stands to be paid $1 million - and
possibly face criminal charges - for helping a private prison company win a
state bid while he was still working for the state. A state audit released
Tuesday cited a possible conflict of interest. The audit does not name the
official, but the audit was aimed at Nolin Renfrow, former state prisons
director. And the document describes work he openly undertook for the Geo
Group. Renfrow helped Geo win a $14 million-per-year deal to house 1,500
inmates in a private prison it proposed building in Ault. Renfrow helped
Geo write its bid and spoke with Ault officials on Geo's behalf, said
officials and Renfrow last spring. On Tuesday, Renfrow did not return a
call for comment. The audit said the official may have violated two state
laws. One prohibits state employees from providing paid assistance to
anyone to win state contracts or economic benefits. The other prohibits
activities that constitute a conflict of interest with their duties as
state employees. The audit cleared the official of using insider knowledge
to help Geo win the bid. But it said that if the prison is built, Geo will
pay the official a $1 million fee. The official started working as a
consultant on the deal before he retired this year, the audit said. During
his final three months on the job, the official used six weeks of sick
leave, valued at $14,000, without any proof that he was sick. The
Department of Corrections has launched an investigation as a result of the
audit. If warranted, the department will refer its findings to local
prosecutors, said Gary Golder, Renfrow's replacement as state director of
prisons. Golder said the laws cited by the auditor do not carry specific
penalties. He speculated that if charges are filed, they might be for
malfeasance or official misconduct. When the audit began in June, Renfrow
told a reporter he had run operations for existing prisons and that he had
no role in writing the state's bid request that he later helped Geo win. He
also said then that the state attorney general's office had ruled that his
work on the deal was not a conflict of interest. However, the audit found
no evidence that he requested or received the required state approval for
his outside work.

August 23, 2006 Pueblo Chieftain
Two political groups are fighting over Rep. Buffie McFadyen, but it isn't
for love nor money. In one corner is a political organization created by
GOP Gov. Bill Owens and financed by several well-heeled Republicans called
The Trailhead Group. In the other is a similarly well-financed Democratic
group called Clear Peak Colorado, which was created for the sole purpose of
countering anything the GOP group says. While Trailhead is accusing the
two-term Democrat from Pueblo West of using her office to enrich herself,
something it has been saying in a slew of recent radio ads in Canon City
and Pueblo, the Democratic group says it is the other way around. That
Trailhead wants to unseat McFadyen so its contributors can continue to
receive lucrative private prison contracts. McFadyen, who has been highly
outspoken in her opposition of private prisons, is running for her third
term in office this fall against GOP challenger Jeff Shaw, a Pueblo
attorney. "It's very clear that these prison building and management
companies are using the Trailhead Group as a vehicle to attack
Representative McFadyen for her opposition to private prison building
initiatives," said Clear Peak director Tim Knaus. "These prison
industry corporate donors to the Trailhead Group have millions of dollars
riding on a GOP victory and they'll stop at nothing to protect their bottom
line." Both groups are known as 527 organizations, so called because
of the IRS tax code governing similar political advocacy groups.

July 31, 2006 The GazetteColorado prison officials, faced with unparalleled crowding, are poised
to embark on the state’s largest private-prison expansion in years. By the
time three companies build medium-security prisons for 3,776 inmates by the
middle of 2008, one in three Colorado inmates will be housed in for profit
facilities. Despite the state’s growing reliance on private prisons,
Department of Corrections officials still have deep concerns about the
projects, and numerous issues remain that could derail them — including two
companies’ insistence their cells be filled before those in state-run
prisons. “I don’t believe they’re cheaper in general,” said state Rep.
Buffie McFadyen, a Pueblo Democrat and opponent of private prisons. “As
long as you have stockholders wanting more bodies and cells, there’s no
incentive for that company to reduce the number of people in prison.” “They
(private-prison firms) kind of know they’ve got us over the barrel,” said
Dave Schouweiler, purchasing manager for the DOC. “If we don’t use them,
we’ve got to ship people out of state.” Corrections Corporation of America
was awarded contracts for 720-bed expansions at its prisons in Las Animas
and Burlington. At the Kit Carson Correctional Facility, the company’s
original proposal called for employing just 59 guards, later revised to 64,
for an expanded inmate population of 1,562, a ratio of 1 to 24. Similarly,
at the Bent County Correctional Facility, the company proposed to have 61
guards — later increased to 66 — for an expanded population of 1,457, a
ratio of 1 to 22. The officer-to-inmate ratio in the state prison system is
1 to 4.6, according to the DOC. It isn’t the first time staffing at a CCA
prison in Colorado has been a concern. In 2004, a riot broke out at the
company’s Crowley County Correctional Facility, and an audit put much of
the blame on low staffing levels. CCA signed new contracts with the DOC,
allowing officials to issue fines for staffing deficiencies. CCA was
recently fined $103,743 for leaving 701 mandatory shifts vacant from Nov. 1
to Jan. 10 at the Kit Carson prison, Morgan said. The company was fined
$23,000 for 157 unfilled shifts at the Crowley County prison and $2,651 for
18 vacancies at the Bent County prison. Private prisons pay less than state
prisons, and critics say most have high turnover. Another point of
contention: CCA and GEO demand to have first claim to every person
sentenced to state prison. It’s a condition Schouweiler said DOC officials
are not comfortable granting. But the fact the companies made it a
condition of their proposals — at least so far — shows how the climate has
changed since the 1990s. “To a large extent, we can’t dictate to them like
we did in the ’90s,” he said. “They would like to see us in crisis when
they open their doors.”

June 28, 2006 Denver PostA Democratic state lawmaker raised safety and competitive concerns
about two companies selected by the state Tuesday to build additional
prison space to house more than 2,200 male prisoners. Rep. Buffie McFadyen
of Pueblo West said The GEO Group Inc. has not built the 500-bed Pueblo
facility it promised three years ago. She also questioned whether GEO had
an unfair bidding advantage on the new 1,504-bed facility it was selected
to build in Ault. The company hired Nolin Renfrow, the former state
director of prisons, to help it bid on the project after Renfrow left the
department, she said. Renfrow worked for corrections when the request for
bids was made public. Neither Renfrow nor a representative of GEO could be
reached Tuesday evening for comment. Katherine Sanguinetti, a spokeswoman
for the department, said she didn't know the factors that went into
selecting GEO. And, she said, "I personally know that the DOC staff
that were rating those bids have had no contact with (Renfrow) to keep it
objective." Earlier this month, McFadyen asked lawmakers to audit the
bidding process. She also questioned why the Corrections Corporation of
America was selected to expand the Bent County Correctional Facility near
Las Animas by 720 beds. CCA owns and operates the Crowley County
Correctional Facility where a riot broke out in 2004. McFadyen said she was
concerned that the company has still not replaced the porcelain fixtures in
its facilities after broken porcelain was used as a weapon during the riot.

June 28, 2006 Journal-AdvocateAll bets are off for a private prison in Sterling that would have
brought 400 to 500 jobs and a $23 million payroll. Late Tuesday the
Colorado Department of Corrections purchasing office awarded a bid for
proposals to provide private prison correctional services and
accommodations for up to 2,250 additional male inmates to both the GEO
Group, Inc. and the Corrections Corporation of America. Both awards are
conditional and subject to contract negotiations. The GEO Group, Inc.,
which included a 2,250-bed facility-security adult male private prison in
Sterling in its proposal to the state, will build a new 1,504 bed facility
in Ault, a town about 12 miles from Greeley, according to the Colorado
Department of Corrections purchasing office's Web site. CCA will expand the
existing facilities of the Kit Carson Correctional Center near Burlington
and the Bent County Correctional Facility near Las Animas by 720 beds each.
The GEO Group, Inc. - the second-largest private prison facility company in
the world, with prisons across the globe - was considering the Sterling
area as the possible site for a medium-security adult male private prison
with 2,250 beds, according to Logan County Economic Development Executive
Director Brett Challenger. The company would have offered 400 to 500 jobs
and a $23 million payroll. There would be no out-of-pocket expense to the
city where the prison is constructed. The city would provide water and
sewer, Challenger said. But Frank Smith, a member of the nonprofit
anti-private-prison group Private Corrections Institute, said while many
towns have looked to private prisons as economic development strategies,
they do not have the same effect as state-run prisons. "There is an
order of magnitude difference between public and dangerous and economically
draining private prisons. I've found the latter paying as little as $6.45
an hour," Smith said. The Journal-Advocate attempted to contact the
GEO Group for information by phone on June 2, June 15, June 22, twice on
June 23 and June 27 but was unsuccessful. Attempts to contact GEO by e-mail
June 21, June 22 and June 24 were also unsuccessful. Smith, a retired
volunteer, worked in criminal justice for decades, including with
ex-offender populations and program management within public prisons. He's
visited a number of for-profit prison in various states and is considered
to be the Midwest's leading authority on private prisons and perhaps one of
the dozen top experts in the world. He said he's suspicious of the GEO
Group's claim to offer $14.42 an hour or $30,000 annually. "The
proposed prison payroll, I'd guess, is wildly inflated. That's one way the
operators sell these boondoggles. The for-profits hire bottom-of-the-barrel
staff, usually pay terrible wages. A New Mexico guard working for GEO was
making $7.95 an hour," Smith said. "They pay as little as they
can. These guys will do whatever they can to get in business. But what they
say and what they do are very different. It's not a contract. Once they
open the doors they can do anything they want," Smith said. Tom Nipp,
mayor of New Castle, Ind., said the GEO-owned prison outside the New Castle
area has been beneficial to his town. "The truth of the matter is at
this point there are more jobs, I believe, than we had before. There are more
inmates, which means there is more work for local people. We have not had
any negative results," Nipp said. Nipp said city leaders were
initially told the company pay scale and benefits would not be as high so
the guards would not be as motivated and the city would not be as secure.
But he said that's not been the case. "At this point we have seen
nothing like this," Nipp said. Nipp said he's noticed only two
differences between now and before GEO moved in: There are more employees
in New Castle, more local jobs and the GEO has provided a partnership with
the community. "To the city of New Castle at this point and time it
has been a positive experience," Nipp said. According to the Colorado
Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, the number of state prisoners in Colorado
has increased more than 500 percent since 1980. The group claims the state
of Colorado has turned to private, for-profit prisons in an attempt to save
money, hoping that privatization will provide money-saving efficiencies in
prison construction and operation. The group claims data from Colorado and
nationwide show the performance of private prisons has been troubled with
poor inmate programs, security problems and fiscal woes. According to
Cheryl Ahumada of the DOC's Office of Public Affairs, the bidder awarded
the project may conduct public meetings in conjunction with municipal and
county officials. "It is up to the company and jurisdiction. It is not
a DOC function," Ahumada said in an e-mail. Jennifer Klein can be
reached at 522-1990, Ext. 237 or by e-mail at jklein@journal-advocate.com
John Mangalonzo can be reached at 522-1990, Ext. 235 or by e-mail at:
jmangalonzo@journal-advocate.com

June 28, 2006 Journal-AdvocateAll bets are off for a private prison in Sterling that would have
brought 400 to 500 jobs and a $23 million payroll. Late Tuesday the
Colorado Department of Corrections purchasing office awarded a bid for
proposals to provide private prison correctional services and
accommodations for up to 2,250 additional male inmates to both the GEO Group,
Inc. and the Corrections Corporation of America. Both awards are
conditional and subject to contract negotiations. The GEO Group, Inc.,
which included a 2,250-bed facility-security adult male private prison in
Sterling in its proposal to the state, will build a new 1,504 bed facility
in Ault, a town about 12 miles from Greeley, according to the Colorado
Department of Corrections purchasing office's Web site. CCA will expand the
existing facilities of the Kit Carson Correctional Center near Burlington and
the Bent County Correctional Facility near Las Animas by 720 beds each. The
GEO Group, Inc. - the second-largest private prison facility company in the
world, with prisons across the globe - was considering the Sterling area as
the possible site for a medium-security adult male private prison with
2,250 beds, according to Logan County Economic Development Executive
Director Brett Challenger. The company would have offered 400 to 500 jobs
and a $23 million payroll. There would be no out-of-pocket expense to the
city where the prison is constructed. The city would provide water and
sewer, Challenger said. But Frank Smith, a member of the nonprofit
anti-private-prison group Private Corrections Institute, said while many
towns have looked to private prisons as economic development strategies,
they do not have the same effect as state-run prisons. "There is an
order of magnitude difference between public and dangerous and economically
draining private prisons. I've found the latter paying as little as $6.45
an hour," Smith said. The Journal-Advocate attempted to contact the
GEO Group for information by phone on June 2, June 15, June 22, twice on
June 23 and June 27 but was unsuccessful. Attempts to contact GEO by e-mail
June 21, June 22 and June 24 were also unsuccessful. Smith, a retired
volunteer, worked in criminal justice for decades, including with
ex-offender populations and program management within public prisons. He's
visited a number of for-profit prison in various states and is considered
to be the Midwest's leading authority on private prisons and perhaps one of
the dozen top experts in the world. He said he's suspicious of the GEO
Group's claim to offer $14.42 an hour or $30,000 annually. "The
proposed prison payroll, I'd guess, is wildly inflated. That's one way the
operators sell these boondoggles. The for-profits hire bottom-of-the-barrel
staff, usually pay terrible wages. A New Mexico guard working for GEO was
making $7.95 an hour," Smith said. "They pay as little as they
can. These guys will do whatever they can to get in business. But what they
say and what they do are very different. It's not a contract. Once they
open the doors they can do anything they want," Smith said. Tom Nipp,
mayor of New Castle, Ind., said the GEO-owned prison outside the New Castle
area has been beneficial to his town. "The truth of the matter is at
this point there are more jobs, I believe, than we had before. There are
more inmates, which means there is more work for local people. We have not
had any negative results," Nipp said. Nipp said city leaders were
initially told the company pay scale and benefits would not be as high so
the guards would not be as motivated and the city would not be as secure.
But he said that's not been the case. "At this point we have seen nothing
like this," Nipp said. Nipp said he's noticed only two differences
between now and before GEO moved in: There are more employees in New
Castle, more local jobs and the GEO has provided a partnership with the
community. "To the city of New Castle at this point and time it has
been a positive experience," Nipp said. According to the Colorado
Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, the number of state prisoners in
Colorado has increased more than 500 percent since 1980. The group claims
the state of Colorado has turned to private, for-profit prisons in an
attempt to save money, hoping that privatization will provide money-saving
efficiencies in prison construction and operation. The group claims data
from Colorado and nationwide show the performance of private prisons has
been troubled with poor inmate programs, security problems and fiscal woes.
According to Cheryl Ahumada of the DOC's Office of Public Affairs, the
bidder awarded the project may conduct public meetings in conjunction with
municipal and county officials. "It is up to the company and
jurisdiction. It is not a DOC function," Ahumada said in an e-mail.
Jennifer Klein can be reached at 522-1990, Ext. 237 or by e-mail at
jklein@journal-advocate.com John Mangalonzo can be reached at 522-1990,
Ext. 235 or by e-mail at: jmangalonzo@journal-advocate.com

June 28, 2006 Greeley TribuneThe state Department of Corrections on Tuesday made a decision that
could alter the face of the small Weld County town of Ault. By granting
Florida-based Geo Group Inc. the right to build a 1,500-bed medium security
men's prison southeast of town in the next two years, the state paved the
way for prisoners to outnumber residents. Negotiations between the town and
Geo will begin next week on infrastructure costs and impact fees. If
residents of Ault need development and economic vitality, the last place
they should look at is a prison, warns a long-time private prison opponent.
Frank Smith, 67, co-founder of the Private Corrections Institute, a
nonprofit organization dedicated to monitoring private prisons, cites study
after study and incident after incident pointing to the ills of private
prisons. Several studies have been conducted to test markets where private
prisons locate, and most conclude that prisons do not stimulate an economy
any more than the regular cycles of growth that would come without the
parade of orange jumpsuits. "They don't pay for themselves, they chase
away safer and better industry," said Smith, who began fighting the
private prison movement in Alaska in 2000 and now fights them nationwide
from his home in Bluff City, Kan. "You foreclose your possibility of
getting a really remunerative industry that would actually compensate
people so they can make a living." While pointing out the numerous
riots that have occurred in private prisons for years -- the problems that
come with corporate, for-profit prison building -- Smith cites one
insidious problem that has a domino effect on economic activity: Pay. Geo
Group noted in discussions with Ault officials that prison employees would
start at $25,000, about $3,000 less than Ault police officers. The pay is
no accident, Smith said. "The biggest problems are that they cut
corners and pay people so poorly they can't get trainable staff, and they
wind up with a bunch of fast-food workers," Smith said. "They
move to where they can pay the least." The private prison movement has
sprawled across rural America in the past decade, according to Terry Besser
and Margaret Hanson in a 2003 study entitled, "The Development of Last
Resort: The Impact of New State Prisons on Small Town Economies." The
pair studied 10 years of prisons in rural America, a time when 69 percent
of the 274 new state prisons were opened in towns of 10,000 or less in
population in 1990. In that time, they found the unemployment rate differed
very little in small towns with prisons, versus their non-prison
counterparts, but poverty levels in prison towns did decrease. "In all
other economic indicators, however, the new prison towns fared worse than
the non-prison towns," the study found. "The rate of increase in
the number of new businesses, non-agricultural employment, average
household wages, retail sales, median value of owner occupied housing and
total number of housing units is substantially less in new prison vs.
non-prison towns." The study showed that turnover rate in private
prisons was three times higher than public prisons due to low wages and a
lower level of employee training, creating employee safety concerns. The
study also found that rural towns, lured by the potential development
opportunities, will frequently give tax abatements and breaks, which are
not commensurate with the supposed vitality a prison would bring to a
community. In Ault, for example, a state contract for the men's prison could
be a $28 million annual contract for Geo, which has promised just $250,000
a year to the town as an impact fee. Ault Police Chief Tracey McCoy, who
sought the prison, said that's a number that will have to increase. Ault
resident Ed Lesh worries about the reputation being a prison town could
mean in the long run. "I don't think we've gleaned the good and bad
about the facility," Lesh said. "There are some points I think
should be considered. ... I don't think having the handle of being a prison
town is a plus. If I were going to start a business, I don't know that I
would go to Cañon City." Ault resident John Dudley believes growth
will come as a result of a prison, but said the town would not see fit to
make sure growth pays its own way, his chief concern when it comes to any
growth that might increase town coffers in the short term. "It would
be nice and wonderful if everyone could assure me it's going to be
controlled growth," said Dudley, a local school board member who was
on the town board when a prison in the area was proposed, then shot down in
the mid 1980s. "It's not just going to soak the city, it will soak
everyone in Colorado," Dudley continued. "It's going to end up
where you're going to have impacts on highways and we'll have to find more
money to pay for highways, and all the sudden, it will impact state patrol,
and we'll have to find more people (to hire)." "I feel pity for
our board because they have this tough decision to make," he said.
"Do we give away things to get this, or do we just kiss more
opportunity goodbye? It's a tough choice."

Cornell-Abraxas
Howe,
Howe Township, PennsylvaniaAugust
22, 2011 Erie Times-News
State police are searching for two boys who escaped this morning from a
Forest County juvenile detention facility. The boys, a 14-year-old and a
15-year-old, were last seen running into the woods near the Cornell Abraxas
Foundation in Howe Township around 4:30 a.m. They were described as black,
wearing black shirts, light-colored pants and tennis shoes.

Cornell Oakland Center,
Oakland, CaliforniaNovember
19, 2010 APA former correctional officer has pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a
federal inmate at a privately run halfway house. Thirty-nine-year-old
Basean George of San Leandro entered the plea Thursday to one count of
sexual abuse of an inmate as part of a deal with prosecutors. George
admitted to a month-long sexual relationship in 2008 with a female inmate
under his watch at the Cornell Oakland Center. The center is a halfway
house under contract with the government that houses federal inmates
nearing the end of their sentences. George faces a maximum sentence of 15
years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when he's sentenced Feb. 2.

Curtin
Detention Centre, AustraliaJune
2, 2005 The AustralianHE was locked up alongside convicted criminals in a maximum-security
prison, but Iranian asylum-seeker Zal Shahbazi was happy to be there.
"It was really much better than detention," he said. "I had
a terrible time in prison, but in detention they put pressure on you mentally
because you don't know when you will be free. As the Howard Government
shows signs of softening on its hardline policy of mandatory detention for
women and children, Mr Shahbazi recalls his blackest days in the
now-defunct Curtin detention centre. In April 2002, he was locked in the
mess hall with about 40 other detainees, including women and children.
"Forty guards came and opened one of the doors, and they started
beating us," Mr Shahbazi said. "Everyone -- even the women with
kids. Everyone was yelling, we were terrified. They beat me with a baton,
they beat my leg and my back." After complaining, Mr Shahbazi was
arrested and sent to Broome Regional Prison, where he shared a cell and one
toilet with up to eight maximum-security prisoners. His charge was damaging
commonwealth property during the clash with Australasian Correctional
Management guards. He was told he would be on remand for three weeks.

Dallas County Judicial Treatment Center, Milmer, TexasJanuary
7, 2011 Dallas Observer
Cornell Companies, the private operator of correctional facilities 'cross
the country, has a motto: "People Changing People." A lawsuit
filed this week in Dallas County District Court proposes an alteration:
"People Filming People." At least, so suggest 36 former inmates
of the Dallas County Judicial Treatment Center in Wilmer, a 300-bed
facility to which men and women convicted of drug- and alcohol-related
crimes in Dallas County are sent to get clean and sober rather than spend
time behind bars. Says the suit, in January 2008 Cornell Companies
employees began filming the inmates without their consent. Caught on film
were their often intense drug treatment sessions, scenes from their daily
routines and a talent show called, but of course, Cornell Idol. The suit
says the inmates, who were already uncomfortable about the filming, were
told the footage would be transferred to DVD and shown only to the Drug
Court judges who send prisoners to the treatment center. But the complaint
alleges it was "turned into a publicity and promotional film" --
shown to, among others, Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and
Attitudes & Attire -- and used as a fund-raising vehicle and "to
obtain future contracts for supervision and operation of other treatment
facilities in Texas and locations in other states." Other patients in
the facility also saw the film, says the suit, and as a result: "The
sharing of the film with the patient population caused considerable
embarrassment for the women residents from taunts and teasing of the male
patients." The suit is alleging that Cornell Companies violated both
state and federal privacy statutes, including those related to keeping
confidential records related to those undergoing drug and alcohol
treatment. It also directs the court's intention to a 2002 doc prepared by
the U.S. Department of Justice -- Practical Guide for Applying Federal
Confidentiality Laws to Drug Court Operations -- which says that "the
intent of Congress in creating these statutes was to encourage the
rehabilitation of substance abusers who might otherwise be deterred from
entering treatment by concern that their substance abuse would become
public knowledge." The suit is asking for $50,000 per plaintiff. The
attorney -- Charles Paternosto, who's up in Denison -- wants $100,000 for
providing "exemplary work for his clients"; more, if it goes into
appeal.

Delaware
County Prison,
PennsylvaniaDec 1, 2017
delconewsnetwork.com Family of prison suicide victim asks county for better oversightThe attorney and family of Janene Wallace, who committed suicide at the
Delaware County prison two years ago, implored Delaware County Council on
Wednesday to ensure safety for inmates who are grappling with mental
illness. “My hope is that this doesn’t happen again,” Susanne Wallace,
Janene’s mother, said after the meeting. “My hope is that they oversee the
prison so that the policies and procedures that are in place are actually
followed. I mean, they had some policies and procedures in place but they
weren’t followed. That was the problem.” Janene Wallace was a 35 year old
inmate who died at the facility on May 26, 2015 after being placed in
solitary confinement for 52 days. She was there following a probation
violation for traveling out of state. Her initial violation dated to 2013
conviction of terroristic threats to a woman over the phone. Her family and
her lawyer said Wallace struggled with mental illness from her teenage
years, starting with anxiety and depression that grew into paranoia.
Earlier this month, the Wallaces settled a civil suit with Community
Education Centers, the former private for-profit entity that ran the prison
when Wallace was there, for $7 million. This year, CEC was purchased by GEO
Group Inc., the company that now oversees the prison. “Our goal today is to
empower the county and to encourage the county if it continues to choose to
outsource the incarceration at the George Hill Correctional Facility to a
for-profit company to ensure that the private contractor provide a safe and
humane incarceration, particularly for the mentally ill,” David K. Inscho,
the attorney representing the Wallace family, said. He identified three
issues that arose over two years of discovery in the case. “First there was
during her two and a half months there, a complete failure to follow
literally dozens of policies and procedures in the handling of this
mentally ill woman,” Inscho said. “Second, there was apparently little or
no oversight of these policy failures by the supervisors at the prison.
“And finally,” he continued, “is that there was a lack of a full
investigation by the contractor.” He recounted parts of Wallace’s story. He
explained Janene suffered from severe mental illness that began as anxiety
and depression in her teens and grew to paranoia in her 20s. “Her mental
illness is what got her in trouble with the law,” Inscho said. “She was
convicted of having made terroristic threats which were driven by her
paranoia against a woman she hardly knew.” He said a county psychiatrist
determined she had a severe mental health issue upon an evaluation completed
at the prison in 2013. “After being released, her paranoia drove her to
flee around the country, fleeing from people she perceived were after her,”
Inscho said. This resulted in the probation violation that sent her back to
prison in 2015. Inscho said the probation department wanted an updated
psychological evaluation on Wallace and she refused once, which, he said,
was the only attempt made to evaluate her in her two and a half months
there. “During that time, her mental health deteriorated,” he said, “and
she was placed in solitary confinement.” There, she lived in her cell for
23 out of 24 hours during the week and for 24 hours on the weekends,
according to the attorney. “There were numerous policies and procedures
that were supposed to be followed to preserve the safety and security of
people who were in solitary confinement like Janene,” Inscho said. They
included daily medical visits; re-evaluations every 48 hours as to whether
a person should remain in solitary confinement and weekly evaluation by the
supervisor; as well as a psychological evaluation after 30 days. “None of
those basic policies and procedures were followed,” Inscho said. “Not a
single one.” He painted a contrasting environment that Wallace dealt with
up until her death. “We learned through our investigation that there was a
guard on duty that night who told Miss Wallace that she should go and kill
herself,” Inscho said. County Council Charman Mario Civera sighed loudly in
disgust. “Following this we’ll call it an argument with the guard that Miss
Wallace covered the window,” Inscho continued. “There was a failure to
respond to this covered window and in fact, the guard that had told her to
kill herself went to lunch.” More than an hour later when the cell was
opened, Wallace was found having hanged herself in the cell, he said. He
said the prison conducted an investigation and not once did officials
mention that Wallace had been in solitary confinement for 52 days or that
multiple inmates called out to the prison staff that a guard had told
Wallace to kill herself. “That investigation report leaves out those
facts,” he said. Inscho also pointed out a 2016 letter sent to the prison
accrediting authority American Correctional Association in which prison
officials reported there were two suicides in 2015 and said that they were
handled compliant with all policies and procedures. In addition, Inscho
said a 25-year-old mentally ill woman was placed in solitary confinement
for two weeks in 2011 and she also hung herself. “No changes were made in
response to that 2011 event,” he said. “Had appropriate changes been made
in 2011 what happened to Janene wouldn’t have happened.” The attorney asked
council for full disclosure going forward, preferably independent, and
oversight. Civera said that request would be taken fully into
consideration. “Sure we’re going to make recommendations, absolutely,
because we don’t want to see another incident like this happen again,” he
said. To the family, the council chairman said, “Your $7 million ... you
deserve every penny of it, but I know it doesn’t replace your daughter. It
doesn’t replace your daughter. We mean that sincerely.” He said county
council is not the only authority in relation to the prison. He mentioned
CEC was in charge at the time and that the Board of Prison Inspectors with
two members appointed by council and three members appointed by the courts.
Civera said a huge catalyst in creating the dynamics that led to this
situation was the 1985 move from the state moving residents of state hospitals
into private or community settings that he said are not adequately funded
to care for these individuals. “It all comes down to dollars and cents and
it’s wrong,” he said. “It’s absolutely wrong. These people need to be cared
for, they need to be taken care of.” Inscho said about 700 of the 1,800
inmates at the county prison suffer with mental illness. “The county is
currently entrusting the care of these hundreds of individuals to a
private, for-profit prison contractor at a great expense to the county,” he
said. “The contract for the prison was budgeted in 2017 at $49 million.” He
said that is greater than 10 percent of the county budget and is a dime for
every taxpayer dollar. In addition, he said $4.1 million a month will be
paid to the prison contractor next year. “This is the only privately run
prison in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Inscho said. “The prison is
being run for profit and if it is going to be done with taxpayer dollars
... there needs to be oversight, there needs to be accountability.”
Desert View Modified Community Correctional Facility, Adelanto,
CaliforniaNovember
26, 2011 The Daily PressThe state has canceled its contract with the privately operated Desert
View Modified Community Correctional Facility, putting about 150 workers
out of a job. Desert View's contract termination officially takes effect
Wednesday, though prison employees told the Daily Press that The Geo Group
Inc. has been preparing to deactivate the prison at Rancho and Aster roads
since May. The 643-bed medium-security prison is shuttering its doors as
part of California’s realignment plan, which responds to federal orders to
reduce state prison overcrowding by shifting responsibility for tens of
thousands of low-level offenders to county governments. To help deal with
the new influx of inmates under local supervision, the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is encouraging counties to
enter into their own contracts with more than a dozen former CCFs. The CCFs
had generally housed inmates with sentences shorter than 18 months, parole
violators and offenders with scheduled release dates — the same types of
nonviolent, non-sexual or non-serious offenders now serving out sentences
in county jails instead of state prisons. “We hope that counties contract
with these facilities to save jobs and ease inmate housing concerns that
many counties may have,” CDCR spokeswoman Dana Toyama said. But San
Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials say they’re not planning
to privatize jail beds. The math just doesn’t pencil out, according to
Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Cindy Bachman. “The issue with taking
advantage of private prisons or private jail facilities has come up over
and over again throughout the years; however, it’s not something that the
county is considering,” Bachman said. “It’s too costly and there’s just not
the funding really even to consider something like that.” The California
State Association of Counties has created a document outlining potential
beds at the former CCFs, but counties statewide have been hesitant to
exercise that option. The Geo Group had operated six of the nine privately
run CCFs that lost their state contracts, according to CSAC. Five other
CCFs were run by local governments. The facilities ranged from around 100 employees
to more than 600, according to Toyama.

July 11, 2011 Business Wire
The GEO Group ("GEO") announced today that the State of
California has decided to implement its Criminal Justice Realignment Plan
(the "Realignment Plan"), which is expected to delegate tens of
thousands of low level state offenders to local county jurisdictions in
California effective October 1, 2011. As a result of the implementation of
the Realignment Plan, the State of California has decided to discontinue
contracts with Community Correctional Facilities which currently house low
level state offenders across the state. This decision will impact three GEO
facilities: the company-leased 305-bed Leo Chesney Community Correctional
Facility, the company-owned 643-bed Desert View Modified Community
Correctional Facility, and the company-owned 625-bed Central Valley
Modified Community Correctional Facility. GEO has received written notice
from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation regarding
the cancellation of GEO's agreements for the housing of low level state
offenders at these three facilities effective as of September 30, 2011,
November 30, 2011 and November 30, 2011, respectively. GEO is in the
process of actively marketing these facilities to local county agencies in
California. Given that most local county jurisdictions in California are
presently operating at or above their correctional capacity, GEO is hopeful
that it will be able to market these facilities to local county agencies
for the housing of low level offenders who will be the responsibility of
local county jurisdictions. If GEO is unable to secure alternative
customers for these three facilities, GEO estimates that the combined
annualized negative earnings per share impact of the cancellations would be
approximately $0.10-0.13, including carrying costs while the facilities are
idle. The combined annualized revenues for these three facilities were
approximately $33-$35 million.

January 19, 2009 Daily Press
A private prison is on a “modified program” after it was placed on lockdown
over the weekend following a riot that involved about 100 inmates,
officials said on Tuesday. The riot took place around 9:30 p.m. Saturday at
the Desert View Community Correctional Facility in the 10400 block of
Rancho Road in Adelanto, prompting officials to place the medium-security
facility on lockdown, according to Paul Verke, spokesman for the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. “The facility is currently on
modified program,” Verke said Tuesday. “It’s not fully back to normal
operations, but it’s not on lockdown any more.” During the riot, some
inmates were injured, according to authorities, although the number of
those hurt was not released. Verke did confirm that none of the injuries
were life-threatening. No staff members were hurt or required medical
attention, he said. Officials are investigating the disturbance. In
February, 22 of the facility’s inmates were sent to local hospitals during
a riot.

February 24, 2008 Daily PressA riot at the Desert Valley Corrections facility on Saturday in
Adelanto sent 21 inmates to local hospitals and one critically injured
inmate had to be airlifted to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, according
to officials on Sunday. At about 4 p.m. on Saturday, a call went out to
American Medical Response who in turn contacted the San Bernardino County
Fire Department who responded to the call with assistance from the
Victorville Fire Department, according to Otto Schramm spokesperson for the
county fire department. “We had a multi-casualty response with three engine
companies, about 10 ambulances, a battalion chief and the helicopter,” said
Schramm who added that the approximate 20 fire personnel remained on the
scene until about 10 p.m. when correctional officers secured the prison.
AMR units then returned to the prison at approximately 11:40 p.m. to
transport four more inmates with minor injuries to area hospitals,
according to Craig Ledesma, AMR supervisor. “After evaluations by prison
staff, it was determined four more inmates needed to be transported and
required medical attention,” said Ledesma. No prison employees were injured
in the incident, according to reports. The nature of the injuries and the
identities of the inmates were not released. When rescue personnel arrived
at the medium-security federal prison, the riot was still in progress, said
Schramm. Personnel treated the injured parties in a safe and secure
location within the prison, said Ledesma. “We all worked together as a team
to make sure all of the patients were transported where they needed to go,”
said Ledesma. It is still unclear what started the trouble. Officials from
the privately-run prison had no comment on the situation.

February 24, 2008 LA Times
Nineteen people were injured Saturday in a riot at the Desert View Modified
Community Correctional Facility in Adelanto, authorities said. San
Bernadino County Fire Department officials said one victim suffered serious
injuries and needed to be airlifted to a hospital. The others suffered
minor injuries and also were taken to area hospitals, said Tim Franke, a
fire dispatch supervisor. Franke, who could not specify whether the injured
were all inmates, said units arrived at the prison at 4 p.m. in response to
a riot in progress. He said firefighters stayed at the facility for six
hours as correctional officers secured the prison and identified the
injured. Desert View officials could not be reached for comment. A 2006
annual report by Boca Raton, Fla.-based The GEO Group, which owned the
facility at the time, described Desert View as a medium-security prison
with 643 inmates.

November 7, 2005 CDCR Daily Report
The following event was reported as occurring 10/28/05, according to a CDCR
"daily report" dated Friday, 10/29/05. Yesterday at 1218 hours,
inmates in the A3 dorm at Desert View Modified Community Correctional
Facility (a private contracted CCF operated by the Geo Group, Inc.) got in
a fight. Hispanic inmates rushed the black inmates believing they were the
ones that informed the assistant facility director of the presence of
weapons. The initial assessment was that 33 Hispanics and 15 Blacks were
involved. The CDCR lieutenant used pepper spray to quell this incident. All
inmates were removed from A3 dorm and isolated pending housing decisions.
The dorm was placed on lock-down status. One inmate suffered a head injury
caused by a blow from a lock in a sock. He was taken by ambulance to St.
Mary's Hospital from treatment. He received three staples and his prognosis
is good. The inmate was returned to custody this morning and taken to CSP
Los Angeles County. One other black inmate sustained a laceration above his
eye which required a butterfly suture. Other inmates sustained minor
injuries consistent with fighting. No staff was injured. Preliminary
information indicates that once the assistant facility director entered the
A3 dorm, he went directly to a Hispanic inmate's locker, pulled out a
weapon and left the dorm. Subsequently, seven more inmate weapons were
found. Arrangements for transportation of the identified participants were
made. The Transportation Unit confirmed that 13 blacks were transferred to
California State Prison-Los Angeles County and 29 Hispanic inmates were
transported early this morning to Chuckawalla Valley State Prison.
Additional off-duty contract and uniformed custody CDCR staff have been
called in. This staffing level will remain through the weekend. Inmates
will not be allowed back into A3 dorm until it has been thoroughly
searched. Tensions are still high at the facility and it will remain on
lockdown until further notice.

November 14, 2004 Daily Press
A privately run, medium-security prison will get up to 200 additional
inmates after the City Council voted to overturn a decision by the Planning
Commission. There are 550
inmates in eight separate dorms holding up to 71 prisoners each at the
Desert View Modified Community Correctional Facility on Rancho Road. After
listening to their request, the City Council on Wednesday voted unanimously
to overturn an Oct. 5 planning commission decision to keep the jail from
expanding. The increase would force the prison to convert many of its
beds to bunk beds, Rauschl said, adding 18 of the double beds to each of
the bays. The Planning Commission cited safety as its main concern when it
denied the prison's request to expand. In October the planning commission
heard the prison's request, but did not approve of the increase. "The
Planning Commission expressed concerns that the facility was not physically
suited for such an increase," according to the City Council agenda.
"Adding inmates would increase the security risk to the community and
to the surrounding residential areas. Other concerns were overcrowding,
number of guards to inmate ratio, internal operations, and impacts to
dining, recreation and bathroom facilities."

Deyton
Detention Facility, Clayton County, Georgia
May 22, 2007 Business Wire
The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO : 53.08, +2.03, +4.0% ) ("GEO")
announced today that it has signed an initial 20-year agreement, with two
five-year renewal options by mutual agreement, with Clayton County, Georgia
(the "County") for the leasing and utilization of the existing
County-owned 576-bed Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility (the
"Facility") with the ability to expand the Facility by an additional
192 beds, which GEO is currently considering. The Facility is expected to
be used by Federal detention agencies with a targeted date of occupancy of
year-end 2007 after the completion of an estimated $3.0 million renovation.
GEO believes that the Facility could generate approximately $14.0 million
in annual operating revenues at full occupancy of 576 beds.

Dickens
County Correctional Facility, Spur, Texas
Del Rio, Texas
GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut Corrections)
July 15, 2010 News ExpressThe GEO Group, a Florida firm that contracts with local governments to
run jails, has agreed to pay $2.9 million to settle a class-action lawsuit
alleging indiscriminate strip searches of inmates at six facilities,
including three in Texas. The Frio County Detention Center in Pearsall, the
Dickens County Detention Center in Dickens and the Newton County
Correctional Center in Newton and jails in New Mexico, Pennsylvania and
Illinois were named in the suit, which was litigated in federal court in
Pennsylvania. The suit alleged GEO employed a uniform practice or policy of
strip-searching all pre-trial detainees who entered certain GEO-operated
jails, regardless of the crime or violation for which they were detained,
and without making the legally required determination of whether reasonable
suspicion existed to justify a strip search. Inmates incarcerated at the
six jails between Jan. 30, 2006 and Jan. 30, 2008 qualify for a share in
the settlement, but they must call 1-877-234-4512, or visit
http://www.multistatestripsearchsettlement.com/index.html.

May 15, 2009 The OlympianThe Idaho Department of Correction and the mother of an inmate who
killed himself in a private prison are suing each other after a settlement
agreement over the son's death fell apart. Scot Noble Payne, who had been
sent to a private Texas prison with hundreds of other inmates to alleviate
overcrowding in Idaho prisons, slashed his own throat in 2007. Idaho
officials who investigated the Dickens County Correctional Facility said
the conditions were deplorable and that the physical environment of Noble's
solitary cell could have contributed to his suicide. Payne's mother,
Shirley Noble, and his father, Alberto Payne, filed a tort claim against
the Idaho Department of Correction contending that the department was
responsible for the wrongful death of their son. Correction Department
officials and the parents went into mediation to see if they could reach a
settlement, and in February both sides agreed that the parents should be
awarded $100,000 and that the Idaho Department of Correction would not
admit fault in Scot Noble Payne's death. But the next month, when the
official document that would release the Idaho Department of Correction
from liability in the case was delivered to the parents, they refused to
sign. The problem, according to Noble's attorney, is that the Idaho
Department of Correction added additional terms into the release document
that hadn't been arbitrated in mediation. The mediation agreement lists
Shirley Noble, Alberto Payne, the state of Idaho and the Idaho Department
of Correction as parties in the agreement. But the release also lists the
estate of Scot Noble Payne and all of the representatives and employees of
the Idaho Department of Corrections and the state as parties. That could
throw into jeopardy another lawsuit brought by the parents - in their role
as representatives of Scot Noble Payne's estate - against several employees
of the Idaho Department of Correction. After the parents refused to sign,
the Idaho Department of Correction filed a lawsuit against them in Ada
County's 4th District Court, asking a judge to force the parents to sign
the release. The parents countersued, contending the state was breaching
the contract they reached under the settlement agreement by trying to later
add new terms. Idaho Department of Correction officials said they could not
comment on pending litigation. The parents' attorney, Wm. Breck Seiniger,
Jr., said the department made a mistake when it was negotiating and didn't
realize it until it was too late - and now is trying to place the blame,
and the loss, on the parents. "I think the lawsuit is just an attempt
to intimidate the parents, frankly," Seiniger said. "If they
thought the agreement meant something different, that is not our problem."
The parents have also filed a lawsuit against Geo Group Inc., the private
company that ran the Texas prison, in U.S. District Court in Texas. That
lawsuit is still in the discovery stages, Seiniger said.

November 14, 2008 Magic Valley Times-NewsFamilies of two Idaho inmates who apparently killed themselves in
lockups run by private prison company GEO Group Inc., pleaded Thursday with
Texas state senators to bar out-of-state prisoners from the Lone Star
State. The Idaho Department of Correction has housed more than 300 prisoners
at GEO-run Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas, but
recently announced plans to move them to the private North Fork
Correctional Facility in Sayre, Okla. The move follows allegations that GEO
falsified reports and short-staffed the Texas facility where Idaho inmate
Randall McCullough, 37, died. Families of Idaho inmates spoke Thursday at a
Texas state Senate hearing in Austin, Texas. The hearing, which dealt with
general oversight of the Texas prison system and did not result in specific
action, was webcast live over the Internet. Among those testifying was
lawyer Ronald Rodriguez, who represents McCullough's family as well as that
of Idaho inmate Scott Noble Payne, 43, who killed himself last year at
another GEO-run prison in Dickens, Texas. "Idaho prisoners need to be
in Idaho where they have access to their court - Where they have access to
their families," Rodriguez on Thursday told the Texas Senate Committee
on Criminal Justice. Payne's mother, Shirley Noble, spoke to Texas
lawmakers last year and again on Thursday. "It seems that no lessons
were learned," Noble said. "If changes had been placed - Randall
would not have been so desperate to take his own life, as my son did."
Texas Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chairman of the Senate Committee on
Criminal Justice, questioned why the "little" state of Idaho
recently decided to pull its prisoners from Geo-run Bill Clayton.
"Should we be following their lead?" he asked. But a Texas
Department of Criminal Justice official told Whitmire that Texas inmates
aren't held at Bill Clayton, and warned against painting private prisons in
Texas with a broad brush. Inmate McCullough's sister, Laurie Williams, told
Texas senators that they should do a review of all private prisons in their
state - including GEO competitor Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).
Idaho prisoners are to be taken to CCA-run North Fork in Oklahoma, where
another Idaho inmate, David Drashner, was allegedly murdered in June.
IDOC's decision to move prisoners from one privately run lockup to another
out-of-state facility concerns Williams, as well as Drashner's wife, Pam
Drashner, who have said they want Idaho to stop shipping away its inmates.
Idaho doesn't have enough room for all its prisoners, and sending them
out-of-state has been widely unpopular. Williams also wants to talk to
Idaho lawmakers, she said. "We should be addressing the Idaho
Senate," said Williams, after Thursday's hearing in Texas. "This
is Idaho sending its inmates out of state whether it's Texas that takes them
or Oklahoma and that's what we have to have stopped." GEO made $4.9
million in annual operating revenues off its contract with Idaho to manage
prisoners at Bill Clayton. GEO officials said shareholders won't lose out
from Idaho's withdrawal because of an expanding contract with the state of
Indiana.

November 6, 2008 APThe Idaho Department of Correction has terminated its contract with
private prison company The GEO Group and will move the roughly 305 Idaho
inmates currently housed at a GEO-run facility in Texas to a private prison
in Oklahoma. Correction Director Brent Reinke notified GEO officials
Thursday in a letter. Reinke said the company's chronic understaffing at
the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas, put Idaho
offenders' safety at risk. An Idaho Department of Correction audit found
that guards routinely falsified reports to show they were checking on
offenders regularly — even though they were sometimes away from their posts
for hours at a time. "I hope you understand how seriously we're taking
not only the report but the safety of our inmates," Reinke told The
Associated Press on Thursday. "They have an ongoing staffing issue
that doesn't appear to be able to be solved." The contract will end
Jan. 5. Reinke said the department wanted to pull the inmates out
immediately, but state attorneys found there wasn't enough cause to allow
the state to break free of the contract without a 60-day warning period. In
the meantime, Reinke said, Idaho correction officials have been sent to the
Texas prison to help with staffing for the next two months. GEO will be
responsible for transferring the inmates to the North Fork Correctional
Facility in Sayer, Okla., which is run by Corrections Corp. of America. GEO
will cover the cost of the move, Reinke said, but Idaho will have to pay
$58 per day per inmate in Oklahoma, compared to $51 per day at Bill
Clayton. Amber Martin, vice president for The GEO Group, of Florida, said
she couldn't comment on the audit or on Idaho's decision to end the contract.
She referred calls to the company spokesman, Pablo Paez, who could not
immediately be reached by the AP. As of Oct. 1, Idaho had nearly 7,300
total inmates. The Bill Clayton audit describes the latest in a series of
problems that Idaho has had with shipping inmates out of state.
Overcrowding at home forced the state to move hundreds of inmates to a
prison in Minnesota in 2005, but space constraints soon uprooted them
again, this time to a GEO-run facility in Newton, Texas. There, guard abuse
and prisoner unrest forced another move to two new GEO facilities: 125
Idaho inmates went to the Dickens County Correctional Center in Spur,
Texas, while 304 went to Bill Clayton in Littlefield. Conditions at Dickens
were left largely unmonitored by Idaho, at least until inmate Scott Noble
Payne committed suicide after complaining of the filthy conditions there.
Idaho investigators looking into Payne's death detailed the poor conditions
and a lack of inmate treatment programs, and the inmates were moved again.
That's when the Idaho Department of Correction created the Virtual Prisons
Program, designed to improve oversight of Idaho inmates housed in contract
beds both in and out of state. The extent of the Bill Clayton facility
understaffing was discovered after Idaho launched an investigation into the
apparent suicide of inmate Randall McCullough in August. During that
investigation, guards at the prison said they were often pulled away from
their regular posts to handle other duties — including taking out the
garbage, refueling vehicles or checking the perimeter fence — and that it
was common practice to fill out the logs as if the required checks of
inmates were being completed as scheduled, said Jim Loucks, chief
investigator for the Idaho Department of Correction. For instance, Loucks
said, correction officers were supposed to check on inmates in the
administrative segregation unit every 30 minutes. But sometimes they were
away from the unit for hours at a time, he said. The investigation into
McCullough's death is not yet complete, department officials said. The
audit also found several other problems at Bill Clayton. The auditor found
that "the facility entrance is a very relaxed checkpoint,"
prompting concerns that cell phones, marijuana and other contraband could
be smuggled past security. In addition, the prison averages a 30 percent
vacancy rate in security staff jobs, according to the audit. Though it was
still able to meet the one-staffer-for-every-48-prisoners ratio set out by
Texas law, employees were regularly expected to work long hours of overtime
and non-security staffers sometimes were used to provide security
supervision, according to the audit. "Based on a review of payroll
reports, there are significant concerns with security staff working
excessive amounts of overtime for long periods of time," the auditors
wrote. "This can lead to compromised facility security practices and
increased safety issues." When the audit was done, there were 29
security staff vacancies, according to the report. That meant each security
staff person who was eligible for overtime worked an average of 21 hours of
overtime a week. That extra expense was borne by GEO, not by Idaho
taxpayers, said Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray. The
state's contract with GEO also required that at least half of the eligible
inmates be given jobs with at least 50 hours of work a month. According to
the facility's inmate payroll report, only 35 out of 371 offenders were
without jobs. But closer inspection showed that the prison often had
several inmates assigned to the same job. In one instance, nine inmates
were assigned to clean showers in one unit of the prison — which only had
nine shower stalls. So although each was responsible for cleaning just one
shower stall, the nine inmates were all claiming 7- and 8-hour work days,
five days a week. GEO is responsible for covering the cost of those wages,
Ray said. "While the contract percentage requirement is met, the
facility cannot demonstrate the actual hours claimed by offenders are spent
in a meaningful, skill-learning job activity," the auditors wrote.
Auditors also found that too few inmates were enrolled in high school
diploma equivalency and work force readiness classes.

September 21, 2008 Times-NewsPam Drashner visited her husband every weekend in prison, until she was
turned away one day because he wasn't there. He had been quietly
transferred from Boise to a private prison in Sayre, Okla. She never saw
him again. In July, she went to the Post Office to pick up his ashes,
mailed home in a box. He died of a traumatic brain injury in Oklahoma,
allegedly assaulted by another inmate. David Drashner was one of hundreds
of male inmates Idaho authorities have sent to private prisons in other
states. About 10 percent of Idaho's inmates are now out-of-state. The
Department of Correction say they want to bring them all home, they simply
have no place to put them. Drashner, who was convicted of repeat drunken
driving, is one of three Idaho inmates who have died in the custody of
private lockups in other states since March 2007, and was the first this
year. On Aug. 18, Twin Falls native Randall McCullough, 37, apparently
killed himself at the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas.
McCullough, serving time for robbery, was found dead in his cell. IDOC
officials say he left a note, though autopsy results are pending. His
family says he shouldn't have been in Texas at all. "Idaho should step
up to the plate and bring their prisoners home," said his sister,
Laurie Williams. Out of Idaho -- Idaho has so many prisoners scattered
around the country that the IDOC last year developed the Virtual Prison
Program, assigning 12 officers to monitor the distant prisons. In 2007
Idaho sent 429 inmates to Texas and Oklahoma. This year; more than 700 - and
by one estimate it could soon hit 1,000. But officials say they don't know
exactly how many inmates may hit the road in coming months. The number may
actually fall due to an unexpected drop in total prisoner head-count, a
turnabout attributed to a drop in sentencings, increased paroles and better
success rates for probationers. The state will also have about 1,300 more
beds in Idaho, thanks to additions at existing prisons. State officials say
bringing inmates back is a priority. "If there was any way to not have
inmates out-of-state it would be far, far better," said IDOC Director
Brent Reinke, a former Twin Falls County commissioner, noting higher costs
to the state and inconvenience to inmate families. Still, there's no end in
sight for virtual prisons, which have few fans in state government. "I
do think sending inmates out-of-state is counter-productive," said
Rep. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, a member of the House Judiciary, Rules and
Administration Committee. LeFavour favors treatment facilities over prisons.
"We try to make it (sending inmates out-of-state) a last resort, but I
don't think we're doing enough." Even lawmakers who favor buying more
cells would like to avoid virtual lockups. "It's more productive to be
in-state," said Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo, chairman of the
Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee, who said he would support a new Idaho
prison modeled after the state-owned but privately run Idaho Correctional
Center (ICC). "We don't want to stay out-of-state unless we have to ��- It's
undesirable." A decade of movement -- Idaho has shipped inmates
elsewhere for more than a decade, though in some years they were all
brought home when beds became available at four of Idaho's state prisons.
The 1,500-bed ICC - a state-owned lockup built and run by CCA (Corrections
Corporation of America) - also opened in 2000. But that wasn't enough:
"It will be years before a substantial increase in prison capacity
will allow IDOC to bring inmates back," the agency said in April. In
2005, former IDOC director Tom Beauclair warned lawmakers that "if we
delay building the next prison, we'll have to remain out-of-state longer
with more inmates," according to an IDOC press release. That year
inmates were taken to a Minnesota prison operated by CCA, where Idaho paid
$5 per inmate, per day more than it costs to keep inmates in its own
prisons. "This move creates burdens for our state fiscally, and can
harden our prison system, but it's what we must do," IDOC said at the
time. "Our ability to stretch the system is over." Attempts to
add to that system have largely failed. Earlier this year Gov. C.L.
"Butch" Otter asked lawmakers for $191 million in bond authority
to buy a new 1,500-bed lockup. The Legislature rejected his request, but
did approve those 1,300 new beds at existing facilities. Reinke said IDOC
won't ask for a new prison when the next Legislative session convenes in
January. With a slow economy and a drop in inmate numbers, it's not the
time to push for a new prison, he said. Still, recent projections for IDOC
show that without more prison beds here, 43 percent of all Idaho inmates
could be sent out-of-state in 2017. "It's a lot of money to go
out-of-state," Darrington said. Different cultures -- One of eight
prisons in Idaho is run by a private company, as are those housing Idaho
inmates in Texas and Oklahoma. The Bill Clayton Detention Center in Texas
is operated by the Geo Group Inc., which is managing or developing 64
lockups in the U.S., Australia and South Africa. The North-Fork
Correctional Facility in Oklahoma is owned and operated by CCA, which also
has the contract to run the Idaho Correction Center. CCA houses almost
75,000 inmates and detainees in 66 facilities under various state and
federal contracts. Critics of private prisons say the operators boost
profits by skimping on programs, staff, and services. Idaho authorities
acknowledge the prisons make money, but consider them well-run.
"Private prisons are just that - business run," Idaho Virtual
Prison Program Warden Randy Blades told the Times-News. "It doesn't
mean out-of-sight, or out-of-mind." Yet even Reinke added that "I
think there's a difference. Do we want there to be? No." The
Association of Private Correctional and Treatment Organizations (APCTO)
says on its Web site that its members "deliver reduced costs, high
quality, and enhanced accountability." Falling short? Thomas Aragon, a
convicted thief from Nampa, was shipped to three different Texas prisons in
two years. He said prisons there did little to rehabilitate him, though
he's up for parole next year. "I'm a five-time felon, all grand theft
and possession of stolen property," said Aragon, by telephone from the
ICC. "Apparently I have a problem and need to find out why I steal.
The judge said I needed counseling and that I'd get it, and I have yet to
get any." State officials said virtual prisons have a different
culture, but are adapting to Idaho standards. "We're taking the
footprint of Idaho and putting it into facilities out-of-state,"
Blades said. Aragon, 39, says more programs are available in Idaho compared
to the Texas facilities where he was. Like Aragon, almost 70 percent of
Idaho inmates sent to prison in 2006 and 2007 were recidivists - repeat
IDOC offenders - according agency annual reports. GEO and CCA referred
questions about recidivism to APCTO, which says only that its members
reduce the rate of growth of public spending. Aragon said there weren't
enough case-workers, teachers, programs, recreational activities and jobs
in Texas. Comparisons between public and private prisons are made difficult
because private companies didn't readily offer numbers for profits,
recidivism, salaries and inmate-officer ratios. During recent visits to the
Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas - where about 371 Idaho
inmates are now held - state inspectors found there wasn't a legal aid
staffer to give inmates access to courts, as required by the state
contract. Virtual Prison monitors also agreed with Aragon's assessment:
"No programs are offered at the facility," a state official wrote
in a recently redacted Idaho Virtual Prison report obtained by the
Times-News. "Most jobs have to do with keeping the facility clean and
appear to be less meaningful. This creates a shortage of productive time
with the inmates. "Overall, recreational activities are very sparse
within the facility ��- Informal
attempts have been made to encourage the facility to increase offender
activities that would in the long run ease some of the boredom that IDOC
inmates are experiencing," according to a Virtual Prison report. The
prison has since made improvements, the state said. Only one inmate case
manager worked at Bill Clayton during a recent state visit, but the
facility did increase recreation time and implemented in-cell hobby craft
programs, Virtual Prison reports show. Other inmate complaints have grown
from the way they have been sent to the prisons. Inmates describe a
horrific bus ride from Idaho to Oklahoma in April in complaints collected
by the American Civil Liberties Union in Boise. The inmates say they
endured painful and injurious wrist and ankle shackling, dangerous driving,
infrequent access to an unsanitary restroom and dehydration during the
almost 30-hour trip. "We're still receiving a lot of complaints, some
of them are based on retaliatory transfers," said ACLU lawyer Lea
Cooper. IDOC officials acknowledge that they have also received complaints
about access to restrooms during the long bus rides, but they maintain that
most of the inmates want to go out-of-state. Many are sex offenders who
prefer the anonymity associated with being out-of-state, they said.
Unanswered questions -- Three deaths of Idaho interstate inmates in 18
months have left families concerned that even more prisoners will come home
in ashes. "We're very disturbed about...the rate of Idaho prisoner
deaths for out-of-state inmates," Cooper said. It was the razor-blade
suicide of sex-offender Scott Noble Payne, 43, in March 2007 at a Geo
lockup in Dickens, Texas that caught the attention of state officials.
Noble's death prompted Idaho to pull all its inmates from the Geo prison.
State officials found the facility was in terrible condition, but they
continue to work with Geo, which houses 371 Idaho inmates in Littlefield,
Texas, where McCullough apparently killed himself. Noble allegedly escaped
before he was caught and killed himself. Inmate Aragon said he as there,
and that Noble was hog-tied and groaned in pain while guards warned other
inmates they would face the same if they tried to escape. Private prison
operators don't have to tell governments everything about the deaths at
facilities they run. The state isn't allowed access to Geo's mortality and
morbidity reports under terms of a contract. Idaho sent additional inmates
to the Corrections Corporation of America-run Oklahoma prison after
Drashner's husband died in June. IDOC officials said an Idaho official was
inspecting the facility when he was found. IDOC has offered few details
about the death. "The murder happened in Oklahoma," said IDOC
spokesman Jeff Ray, adding it will be up to Oklahoma authorities to charge.
Drashner said her husband had a pending civil case in Idaho and shouldn't
have been shipped out-of-state. She says Idaho and Oklahoma authorities
told her David was assaulted by another inmate after he verbally defended
an officer at the Oklahoma prison. Officers realized something was wrong
when he didn't stand up for a count, Drashner said. "He was healthy.
He wouldn't have been killed over here," she said.

December 28, 2007 AP
Fifty-five Idaho inmates who were moved out of a troubled Texas prison on
Thursday have been forced by a contract delay to make a temporary stop
before going to their final destination, a lockup near the Mexican border.
More than 500 Idaho prisoners are in Texas and Oklahoma due to overcrowding
at home. The prisoners being moved are bound for the Val Verde Correctional
Facility in Del Rio, Texas, after more than a year at the Dickens County
Correctional Center in Spur, Texas, where one Idaho inmate killed himself
in March. Because a Texas county official has yet to approve the contract
to house Idaho prisoners at Val Verde, they have first been sent 100 miles
away to the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas. There,
they will sleep in groups of up to 10 men on makeshift cots in day rooms
until resolution of the contract allows them to complete the final 250-mile
leg of their journey to Val Verde sometime in early January. The inmates
"were a bit dubious and questionable about that," said Randy Blades,
the warden in Boise who oversees Idaho's out-of-state prisoners. That's one
reason why his agency has sent two officers to make sure the move runs
smoothly, Blades said. Both the Dickens and Val Verde prisons are run by
private operator GEO Group Inc., based in Boca Raton, Florida. Pablo Paez,
a spokesman for GEO, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
GEO no longer has the contract to manage the Dickens facility after
Tuesday. Because Idaho recently rejected an offer from the new company that
will run Dickens, GEO on Thursday had to move the Idaho inmates to
temporary quarters in Littlefield. Though Idaho officials thought details
of the move to Val Verde had been resolved, Department of Correction
Director Brent Reinke said he learned only last week that a Texas county
judge wanted a lawyer to look at the contract one last time. "It was
something we did not anticipate," Reinke said. "GEO is paying the
transport costs." This is just the latest uprooting of Idaho inmates
since they were first shipped out of state in 2005. Since then, they have
bounced from prison to prison in Minnesota and Texas amid allegations of
abusive treatment. There also has been the criminal conviction of at least
one Texas guard for passing contraband to inmates; at least two escapes;
and the death of Scot Noble Payne, a convicted sex offender who slashed his
throat last March in a solitary cell at Dickens County. Idaho officials who
investigated concluded the GEO-run prison was filthy and the worst they had
seen. As a result, about 70 Idaho inmates were moved from Dickens to
Littlefield, where about 300 Idaho inmates were already housed, while the
state continued talks with GEO over sending the remaining 55 to a new
659-bed addition at Val Verde. Despite the stopover, GEO has a hefty
incentive to make sure the move to Val Verde goes smoothly, Reinke said.
The company hopes to win contracts with Idaho to build a large new prison
here to help accommodate the state's 7,400 inmates. "They're really
monitoring this closely, and doing a good job at this point," Reinke
said. "It's not a lot different than triple bunking."

December 6, 2007 Dallas Morning NewsSeven former and current inmates have filed a lawsuit against a private
prison company, alleging abuse by a registered sex offender who worked as a
night-shift guard at a troubled West Texas lockup that is now closed. The
young men allege they were mentally, physically and sexually abused in 2006
and early 2007 by a guard who was fired in March, after state officials learned
he was on the public sex offender registry. He had worked for seven months
at the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center, operated by Florida-based GEO
Group Inc. The facility housed Texas Youth Commission inmates until the
teens were removed in October because of squalor and mismanagement. One of
the plaintiffs, who filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Friday, alleges
that guard David Andrew Lewis let several inmates into his cell. They
sexually assaulted him with a broom handle while Mr. Lewis watched, according
to Dallas lawyer Bob Crill. GEO spokesman Pablo Paez said the company had
no comment about the lawsuit. Mr. Lewis, who isn't named as a defendant,
couldn't be reached. TYC also declined to comment. Several plaintiffs
remain in TYC custody, their lawyers said. Deon Olthoff, 18, of Granbury,
said Wednesday that his abuse began in November 2006 when he moved to a new
Coke County dorm with individual cells. Mr. Olthoff spent 14 months in the
facility after his parole for burglary was revoked because of truancy. Mr.
Lewis first leered and stood too close as he and other boys showered, Mr.
Olthoff said. Later, the guard would barge into his cell at night as Mr.
Olthoff slept or wrote letters. "He just came in and started choking
me, and getting on top of me, and grabbing my hands and pulling them behind
my back and stuff like that, and grabbing me in private areas," Mr.
Olthoff said. Until his release in February, Mr. Olthoff said, he coped
with Mr. Lewis' behavior by trying "not to think about it." Mr.
Olthoff said he and two other inmates filed a joint grievance in late 2006
alleging that Mr. Lewis touched them inappropriately. GEO sent Mr.
Olthoff's father a letter in February notifying him of the allegations of
mistreatment. The letter said the Olthoffs would receive written notice
about the outcome of an investigation. But no follow-up letter arrived,
Deon and his attorneys said. Mr. Crill and Dallas lawyer Bady Sassin, who
worked with a Corpus Christi law firm to file the suit in San Antonio, said
they were investigating whether Mr. Olthoff's complaint led to Mr. Lewis'
firing. A Texas Department of Public Safety sex offender Web site shows
that Mr. Lewis, 24, was convicted in 1999 of indecency by exposure with a
5-year-old girl. After his firing, Mr. Lewis said he had shown his
prospective employer his sex offender card when he applied but they told
him to see if his background check went through, according to an Associated
Press report. Mr. Paez previously has said that the company didn't know
about Mr. Lewis' record because juvenile cases don't show up on background
checks. "Even if you excuse the inexcusable – which is not knowing
from the beginning that this guy was a registered sex offender – there were
complaints that were filed that should have put them on notice long, long
before he was terminated," Mr. Crill said. TYC grievance records
obtained by The News show the agency recorded four mistreatment allegations
against Mr. Lewis by inmates whose identities were withheld. He was cleared
on three allegations, including an accusation of sexual abuse. In February,
an allegation of unprofessional conduct was sustained against Mr. Lewis.

November 29, 2007 AP
The mother of an Idaho inmate who killed himself in a Texas prison earlier
this year has filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the
private-prison company that runs the lockup where he died. In her claim in
U.S. District Court in western Texas, Shirley Noble says prison operator
The GEO Group abused and neglected Scot Noble Payne before he slashed his
throat on March 4th. Scot Noble Payne, a convicted sex offender from Idaho,
had been moved to Texas along with more than 400 Idaho inmates to relieve
overcrowding at prisons in their home state. Idaho officials who
investigated at the Dickens County Correctional Facility in Spur, Texas,
said the physical environment of his solitary cell could have contributed
to his suicide.

November 27, 2007 Idaho State Journal
A company that's due to take over a troubled privately run Texas prison in
2008 made a sales pitch Monday to Idaho Department of Correction officials,
saying it hopes the management shake-up and $1.2 million in proposed
renovations will overshadow past problems and persuade Idaho to ship more
inmates to the lockup. Civigenics, a unit of New Jersey-based Community
Education Centers, Inc., with prisons or treatment programs in 23 states,
will manage Dickens County Correctional Center in Spur, Texas, starting
Jan. 1 after winning a competitive bid. Until now, The GEO Group Inc.,
based in Florida, ran the facility. In March, Idaho prison officials called
Dickens under GEO's oversight ''the worst'' prison they'd seen, citing what
they called an abusive warden, the lack of treatment programs and squalid
conditions they said may have contributed to the suicide of inmate Scot
Noble Payne, who was held for months in a solitary cell. Idaho is nearly
ready to move 54 prisoners who remain at Dickens to a new GEO-run facility
near the Mexican border, after shifting 69 inmates elsewhere this summer.
Dickens County and Civigenics officials came to Boise to offer assurances
they'll remedy concerns over their 15-year-old prison as they aim to stay
in the running to house some of the hundreds of prisoners that Idaho plans
to ship elsewhere in coming months to ease overcrowding. Some 550 of
Idaho's 7,400 inmates have been sent out of state since 2005. GEO ''thought
they were too good,'' Sheldon Parsons, a Dickens County commissioner, told
Idaho officials. ''They're used to running bigger facilities. That just kind
of didn't fit into our program. Civigenics will definitely fit.'' Idaho
plans to send 120 additional prisoners to a private prison in Oklahoma in
January. It's also looking for space in other states for groups of inmates
in increments of about 100 starting in mid-2008. Bob Prince, a Civigenics
salesman, said his company could house as many as 150 Idaho inmates at a
revamped Dickens. The $1.2 million from Dickens County, which owns the
prison, would cover new fencing, exterior lighting, security improvements,
kitchen renovations and more rooms for education and treatment programs.
Still, Idaho officials including Department of Correction Director Brent
Reinke indicated the plan may not be enough to address complaints that have
prompted him to vacate Dickens. Idaho, which earlier this year conceded it
lost track of how its inmates in Texas were being treated before Payne's
suicide, has outlined its concerns in several reports over the last nine
months. Lingering shortcomings include a lack of cell windows and a drab,
dingy atmosphere in an aging facility built as county jail, not for
long-term prisoners. ''The cells inside that facility are pretty dark and
dank,'' said Randy Blades, the Idaho warden who oversees out-of-state
prisoners. ''What are you looking at to change the cells themselves?''
Texas officials conceded that wasn't considered. ''We haven't looked into
any of that,'' Parsons said, before adding, ''We'll try and do anything we
can to make people happy that are coming in. Nobody has ever brought that
up before.'' Despite past problems with GEO, Blades said Idaho aims to soon
finalize a contract with that company to move inmates still at Dickens to a
new 659-bed addition at the Val Verde Correctional Facility, near the
Mexican border. That contract also calls for roughly 40 inmates currently
in Idaho to be sent to Val Verde. Val Verde has seen its own share of
problems under GEO leadership. GEO settled a wrongful death case after a
female Texas prisoner killed herself following allegations she was sexually
humiliated by a guard and raped by an inmate. Earlier this year, the local
government was forced to hire a monitor for the facility. Even so, Blades
said a visit to the new cellblock slated for Idaho inmates earlier this
year convinced him and other officials that the prison is appropriate and
safe. ''It's a very good facility, very secure,'' Blades said of Val Verde.
''There's a good dayroom. The cells are well lighted.''

October 12, 2007 KRIS TV
The delayed discovery of squalid conditions at a privately run Texas Youth
Commission jail was "a human failure" and stronger oversight is
needed to prevent similar incidents, a key state senator said Friday.
"It was very simple that the monitors were not doing their job and
there was a human failure," said Sen. John Whitmire, head of the
Senate Criminal Justice Committee. "Who's monitoring the
monitors?" Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, called a committee hearing
about a week after a Coke County juvenile lockup in Bronte operated by The
GEO Group, Inc., was closed because of filthy conditions. A Texas Youth
Commission ombudsman discovered the conditions, even though the facility
had passed previous inspections by TYC monitors. The TYC system was rocked
earlier this year by allegations of rampant sexual and other physical abuse
against juvenile inmates in the system. The star witness at Friday's
hearing on adult and juvenile prison monitoring was Shirley Noble, who told
how her son, 43-year-old Idaho inmate Scot Noble Payne, endured months of
horrific conditions then slit his own throat at a private Texas prison run
by GEO Group. "It seemed there was no end to the degradation he and
other prisoners were to endure with substandard facilities," Noble
said. Her son died March 4 in a private prison in Spur. Noble questioned
why Idaho sent its inmates to Texas and why the Florida-based GEO Group was
allowed to keep prisoners in what she described as "degrading and
subhuman conditions." "Please, please hold them accountable for
all the injuries and misery they have caused," Noble said. A spokesman
for GEO Group did not immediately return a telephone call from The
Associated Press to respond to comments made at the hearing. TYC Acting
Executive Director Dimitria Pope, who took over the youth agency earlier
this year, testified that she's putting more monitoring safeguards in
place. That includes sending executive staff members out to view the
lockups, something she said hadn't been done regularly in the past.
"Because of my concerns of what I saw in Coke County, I have implemented
a blitz of every facility, either the ones that we operate, that contract,
district offices, anything that has TYC affiliated with it," she said,
adding that each site will be visited by the end of October. Adan Munoz
Jr., executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, said he
has four inspectors do annual inspections of the 267 facilities under his
oversight. He defended his agency's practice of giving two- to three-week
notices about inspection visits but said recently there have been more
surprise inspections. Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said
privatizing prisons is an "easy way out." He said he worries
about the state continuing to contract with companies that have a history
of abuse. "It's a myth that the private sector does a better job than
government" in running prisons, Hinojosa said. "They're there to
make a profit and they'll cut corners, and they'll cut back on services and
they'll many times look the other way when abuse is taking place."
Because of Texas' size and high rate of locking up convicts, the state is
in the national spotlight for its dealings with private prison firms, said
Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston. "It puts a special burden on us,"
he said. "If it needs to be improved, improve it, because everybody
looks to us." Noble was the panel's final witness. The room hushed as
she told the senators her family's emotional tale. Her son, a convicted sex
offender, was kept in solitary confinement for months with a wet floor,
bloodstained sheets and smelly towels. She said he wrote long, detailed
letters to family members in which he said the only way to escape the
prison's harsh conditions was to join his late grandfather in the spirit
world. Noble said she begged for psychological help for her son. She said
he wasn't supposed to have been given a razor, and she still wonders how he
got the one he used to end his life. "After he tried to unsuccessfully
slash his wrists and ankles, he knelt in the shower and cut his own
throat," she said. "Surely only a person in utter disillusionment
and horrifying conditions would bring themselves to this end."

October 11, 2007 The OlympianThe mother of an Idaho inmate who killed himself in a Texas prison this
year has become a corrections activist. Shirley Noble travels to Austin, Texas
Friday to urge lawmakers there to stop accepting out-of-state prisoners at
their for-profit lockups. Texas is holding hearings over The GEO Group, a
Florida-based private prison company that lost its contract to oversee a
juvenile prison because of dirty bed sheets, feces-smeared cells and
insects in the food. GEO also ran the prison where Shirley Noble's son,
Scot Noble Payne, slashed his throat March 4. The convicted sex offender
had been shipped to Texas with a group of 450 Idaho inmates because of
overcrowding at prisons at home. Shirley Noble contends sending prisoners
out-of-state leaves them without family contact - and caused Idaho prison
officials to neglect them.

August 8, 2007 AP
The mother of an Idaho inmate who killed himself in a dilapidated private
Texas prison earlier this year has filed a $500,000 claim against Idaho,
contending the state's Department of Correction is responsible for
"inhumane treatment and illegal and unconstitutional conditions of
confinement" that contributed to his death. Scot Noble Payne, 43, was
in prison for aggravated battery and lewd and lascivious conduct when he
slashed his throat March 4. He had been sent to the Dickens County
Correctional Center in Spur, Texas, with other inmates last year to relieve
overcrowding in Idaho prisons, which have more than 7,000 prisoners but too
few beds to house them all. Following Payne's death, Idaho prison health
care director Donald Stockman investigated Dickens and concluded "the
physical condition of the cell where the suicide occurred does not, in my
opinion, comply with any standards related to inmate housing for either
segregated housing or housing for inmates on suicide watch. The physical
environment of the cell would have only enhanced the inmate's depression
that could have been a major contributing factor in his suicide."
"Just being in the filth and degradation of that cell was sufficient
to drive somebody into suicide," Payne's mother, Shirley Noble, told
The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday from her home near
Los Angeles. The tort claim against Idaho was filed last week. Under state
law, the maximum Noble could recover is $500,000. The state now has 90 days
to respond to the claim; if it doesn't, Noble could file a civil rights
lawsuit in federal court. Kit Coffin, the state's risk management program
manager with the Department of Administration, said tort claims like this
are reviewed and assigned to state adjudicators for consideration. She was
uncertain if Noble's claim, originally filed with the secretary of state,
had been sent to her office yet. In suicide notes he penned for relatives,
Payne described a constantly wet floor, bloodstained sheets and smelly
towels in the isolation cell at the prison where he was confined for three
months following his escape and recapture in December 2006. He slit his
throat in his cell just after midnight March 4. "Due to the inhumane
conditions, Scot Noble Payne became depressed and suicidal. ... Unattended,
(he) committed suicide as a result of being subjected to inhumane treatment
and illegal and unconstitutional conditions of confinement," according
to Noble's tort claim. Since Payne's death, 69 Idaho inmates have been
moved from Dickens, which is run by Florida-based private prison operator
The GEO Group, to another prison. By September, the remaining 56 Idaho
inmates still at Dickens are set to be moved to another Texas prison
because Idaho officials aren't satisfied with improvements at Dickens.
Noble's lawyer in Boise, Breck Seiniger, said Idaho had the responsibility
to ensure conditions at Dickens were adequate, regardless of whether
prisoners were located in Idaho or 1,500 miles away. Brent Reinke, director
of the Idaho Department of Correction since January, has conceded his
agency didn't do enough to monitor conditions at Dickens between August
2006, when Idaho prisoners were sent there, and Payne's suicide in March.
During that period, Idaho sent prison staff to Texas just once. They have a
responsibility to provide reasonable conditions of confinement," said
Seiniger. "They can't escape that responsibility simply by passing
these prisoners off to somebody else." Reinke's office said it would
review the claim, but declined to immediately comment. Payne's family has
also discussed a federal lawsuit against The GEO Group, though no lawsuit
has yet been filed. Phone calls to GEO Group spokesman Pablo Paez in Boca
Raton, Fla., weren't immediately returned.

July 26, 2007 The Olympian
Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke next Thursday will visit a private
Texas prison where he intends to shift 56 inmates in September, after
problems including abuse by guards, deplorable conditions and a suicide
emerged at previous facilities in that state. Reinke, who concedes lax
oversight by Idaho contributed to problems, and three other Idaho officials
will review the Val Verde Correctional Facility and Jail in Del Rio, Texas,
run by Florida-based private prison firm The GEO Group. The prison area
where Idaho inmates are due to be housed at Val Verde is part of a new
659-bed addition, Reinke said. Still, he wants to make sure the facility
located near the Mexican border meets Idaho standards so the recurring
problems at the two previous GEO-run prisons aren't repeated. "On
contracts in general, we're going to be stepping that up," Reinke told
The Associated Press this week. "We want to take a firsthand
look." About 450 Idaho inmates were first moved beyond state borders
in 2005 to relieve overcrowding at prisons here, where there are more than
7,000 inmates - but not enough room to house them all. They were
incarcerated at the Newton County Correctional Center in Newton, Texas,
until August 2006, when they were moved following allegations of abuse by
guards to the Dickens County Correctional Center in Spur, Texas. But
Reinke, who took over in January, acknowledges his agency didn't do enough
to scrutinize conditions at Dickens before Idaho inmates were shipped
there. And from August 2006 to March 2007, Idaho prison officials only
visited the Dickens County facility one time. The March 4 suicide by Scot
Noble Payne, a convicted sex offender, and a subsequent investigation
illuminated conditions that one Idaho prison official described as
"beyond repair." One concern: There have been problems at Val
Verde, too. Inmate LeTisha Tapia killed herself there in 2004 after
alleging she was raped by another inmate and sexually humiliated by a
guard. And a black guard accused his captain of keeping a hangman's noose
in his office and a photo of himself in a Ku Klux Klan hood in his desk.
Val Verde County has been forced to hire a full-time prison monitor to keep
a watch on prison operations as part of a settlement with Tapia's family.
Some family members of Idaho inmates now at Dickens told the AP they're
pleased Reinke is scrutinizing Val Verde personally. Still, they said
they're frustrated their relatives are being moved again - especially since
many problems at Dickens have been remedied since Payne's suicide in March.
"Things are OK now," said the wife of a sex offender who asked
not to be identified by name. "They don't want to move." Reinke
has pledged to improve oversight of conditions at Texas prisons through
what he's calling a "virtual prison" that his agency adopted
earlier this week. It's modeled after a similar system in Washington state,
he said.

July 11, 2007 APAs overcrowding in Idaho prisons intensifies, so have lobbying efforts
and campaign donations by private prison companies aiming to win new
contracts - both to house more inmates beyond state borders and to build a
proposed 2,200-bed for-profit lockup. The GEO Group, a Florida-based prison
operator in 15 states, entered Idaho politics in 2005, when it hired its
first lobbyist, according to a review of lobbying and campaign finance
records by The Associated Press. A year later, it divvied up $8,000 among
three campaigns: Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter got $5,000, Lt. Gov. Jim
Risch got $2,500, and former state Rep. Debbie Field, who lost her House
race last November, received $500. Field also served as Otter's campaign manager
and was later appointed by the new governor as Idaho's drug czar. Since
2006, GEO has won contracts worth $8 million annually to house more than
400 Idaho inmates in Texas, including at two prisons where problems became
so severe that Idaho demanded inmates be relocated. Corrections Corp. of
America, a Tennessee company whose 95,000-inmate private prison system
includes 1,500 prisoners at a prison south of Boise, gave nearly $32,000
for the 2006 election to 29 Republican candidates, including $10,000 to
Otter, and $5,000 to the state Republican Party. CCA and GEO each hired two
lobbyists for the 2007 Idaho Legislature. Just one Democrat, Rep. Margaret
Henbest, D-Boise, received money from CCA - $300. The GOP dominates Idaho
politics, with 51 of 70 seats in the House and 28 of 35 seats in the
Senate. Steve Owen, a CCA spokesman, said his company makes political
contributions to candidates that support "public-private
partnerships." "That's what we're in the business of, and that's
reflective of our participation in the political process," Owen said,
adding his company has run private prisons for nearly 25 years, including
in Idaho, in a professional manner where standards can exceed a state's
own. "It has been a positive working relationship between the Idaho
Department of Correction and CCA." GEO spokesman Pablo Paez didn't
return phone calls seeking comment. Overcrowding in U.S. prisons, plus a
federal push to incarcerate more terrorists and illegal aliens, has
benefited private prisons that now oversee 140,000 inmates. Companies like
GEO and CCA spent $3.3 million between 2000 and 2004 on election campaigns
in 44 states to ensure they profit from this private prison boom, according
to a 2006 study by the National Institute for Money in State Politics, in
Helena, Mont. Private prisons have become a hot topic here, because of the
problems at GEO's Texas prisons where Idaho inmates are locked up to ease
overcrowding at home. Abuse by guards at the Newton County Correctional
Center in eastern Texas prompted Idaho officials to demand inmates be
relocated in 2006 to the Dickens County Correctional Center. Now, Idaho
officials have called Dickens "filthy" and "beyond
repair," prompting a move to another GEO Texas prison. "The way
the contractor makes the most money is by providing the least amount of
service," said Robert Perkinson, a University of Hawaii professor who
is writing a book on Texas prisons, including privately run facilities.
"It's an inherently problematic area of government to privatize."
Still, Idaho, with about 7,000 inmates, now has 256 more inmates in-state
than it has capacity for - even with about 430 already in Texas. Efforts to
develop sentencing alternatives to ease an expected 7 percent annual
increase in inmate numbers through 2010 will take time, so Department of
Correction Director Brent Reinke said alternatives are limited to moving
inmates elsewhere. Robin Sandy, Idaho Board of Correction chairwoman, said
she met with CCA officials in Idaho in June. They discussed a new contract
with the state to house 240 Idaho inmates in company prisons in Oklahoma -
a contract worth about $5 million annually - as well as prospects of the
company winning a share of the new 2,200-bed prison proposal that Reinke
plans to introduce in September to lawmakers. "It was a courtesy
visit," Sandy said. Otter said he's also been in discussions with
private prison companies eager to do more business with the state. Otter is
a former J.R. Simplot executive who has said he wants to run Idaho more
like the private sector. "There's been a lot of that activity,"
Otter told the AP. "During the legislative session, there were several
organizations that came in."

July 10, 2007 The Olympian
More Idaho inmates are slated to move to a private Texas lockup in the
latest effort by state prison officials to relieve overcrowding at
facilities here. In the move approved by state officials including Gov.
C.L. "Butch" Otter on Tuesday, 40 inmates now in Idaho will go to
the Val Verde Correctional Facility and Jail in Del Rio, Texas, at a cost
of $51 per inmate per day. In addition, 125 inmates now at the Dickens
County Correctional Center in Spur, Texas, will also be shifted, with 56
going to Val Verde, located near the Mexican border, and the remaining 69
going to another prison in Littlefield, Texas, where there are already 304
Idaho inmates. The shift to Val Verde and Littlefield comes after problems
emerged at Dickens, including a March 4 suicide, reports of
"filthy" and "dire living conditions" and a guard convicted
of providing contraband to inmates. Still, both Dickens and Val Verde
prisons are run by the same private company - Florida-based prison operator
The GEO Group - and prison advocates say Val Verde also has a reputation as
a "scandal-ridden prison." One Texas inmate killed herself at Val
Verde in 2004 after alleged sexual humiliation by a guard, while a guard
supervisor was accused of keeping a photo of himself in a Ku Klux Klan
hood, resulting in accusations of racism. "We'll do a site visit in
the immediate future" to Val Verde, said Idaho Department of
Correction Director Brent Reinke, who has pledged to improve monitoring of
Idaho inmates by instituting a new program that includes more-frequent
visits to out-of-state facilities. GEO Group spokesman Pablo Paez said his
company is working with Idaho to meet its prison needs. In 2005, a black
guard alleged his captain at Val Verde kept a hangman's noose in his office
and a Polaroid photo of himself in a Ku Klux Klan hood in his desk. That
case was settled in 2006. The settlement with GEO isn't public, but details
of the guard's complaint were confirmed by a federal Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission probe reviewed by the AP. The guard's attorney said
Tuesday that the atmosphere at Val Verde was "hostile and racist."
"I would have serious concerns about the way inmates will be
treated," the lawyer, Mark Anthony Sanchez, said from San Antonio.
"If a jail treats its employees that way, how is it going to treat
inmates?" And in 2006, a female inmate's family sued The GEO Group in
the wake of her suicide at Val Verde. Before her death, LeTisha Tapia said
she was raped by another inmate and sexually humiliated by a GEO guard
after reporting to the warden that guards let inmates have sex. The lawsuit
was settled this year. Details of that settlement also aren't public,
according to U.S. District Court records in western Texas. But Val Verde
County, where the prison is located, has been forced to hire a full-time
prison monitor to keep a watch on operations at the prison, as part of its
own settlement with Tapia's family. "The county feels that the jail
monitor is necessary," said Ann Markowski Smith, the county attorney,
in an interview with the AP. She added that concerns remain about the
GEO-run prison, including whether inmates are properly receiving medication
meant to treat mental health conditions. Bob Libal, of Grass Roots
Leadership, a group that campaigns against for-profit prisons like GEO, is
more critical. "Val Verde is the GEO-group prison we always point to as
a scandal-ridden private prison," said Libal. "We hear very bad
things from there, whether it be in the lawsuits, or grumblings about the
facility being poorly operated." GEO's Paez declined to comment on the
settlement with Tapia's family, or the guard who sued the company over
racism allegations at Val Verde. Idaho's contract with GEO is worth some $8
million annually. Idaho, which began sending inmates beyond its borders in
2005, predicts inmate numbers will grow between 6 percent and 7 percent
annually through 2010, with the population reaching more than 8,800 inmates
by then. The state says it must ship inmates out of state to relieve
overcrowding. While Reinke said he'll soon introduce a plan to build a new
2,200-bed private prison in Idaho, that won't be done until 2010, at the
earliest. As a result, Idaho likely will continue to send more inmates out
of state until then. For instance, it aims to send an additional 240
prisoners by November to prisons in Oklahoma operated by another company,
Corrections Corp. of America. While Otter acknowledged he's reluctant to
work with GEO due to problems at its facilities, he added, "I have a
great deal of confidence in Mr. Reinke's ability to clean up the
situation."

July 8, 2007 Magic Valley Times-NewsThe state's top prison official aims to soon send more inmates to a
Texas lockup run by a private company, even though Idaho prisoners at two
of that outfit's other facilities have had to be moved twice because of
abuse by guards, a suicide, filthy conditions and lack of treatment. Brent
Reinke, Idaho Department of Correction director, on Tuesday will ask the
state Board of Examiners, including Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, to
let him move more prisoners now in Idaho to an undisclosed Texas facility
run by The GEO Group, a Florida-based private prison company. Reinke's
request also includes relocating prisoners from GEO's Dickens County
Correctional Center in Spur, Texas. Conditions at Dickens, left largely
unmonitored by Idaho between last August and March, had deteriorated so
badly that when Idaho's prison health director finally investigated earlier
this spring, he said it was "the worst correctional facilities I have
ever visited." Reinke concedes his agency failed to properly monitor
conditions at Dickens, but said moving inmates to another GEO prison won't
necessarily mean problems will recur because not all the its facilities are
run so poorly. For instance, another GEO-run facility where 304 Idaho
inmates are housed, the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas,
is an excellent prison that shows problems aren't endemic, he said.
"We just need to make sure we hold them to the contract," Reinke
told the AP Friday. "We've got to do a better job monitoring the
facilities." It wasn't immediately clear how many inmates currently in
Idaho would be affected by Tuesday's request. Otter couldn't be reached for
comment Sunday. Rising numbers of inmates in Idaho, whose prisons now house
more than 7,000, make this latest out-of-state shipment unavoidable, Reinke
said. Idaho predicts prison growth between 6 percent and 7 percent through
2010, with the population reaching more than 8,800 inmates by then. Idaho
now pays GEO $51 a day to house about 430 inmates, or more than $7 million
annually. At the time of Idaho's initial out-of-state shipments in 2005,
inmates went first to Minnesota. But space constraints soon uprooted them
again in 2006, this time to a GEO-run facility in Newton, Texas. There,
guard abuse and prisoner unrest forced another move to two new GEO
facilities: 125 Idaho inmates went to Dickens, while 304 went to Bill
Clayton in Littlefield. Problems continued at Dickens, including an inmate
suicide in March. A guard was fired, then convicted in state court, for
passing contraband to inmates. And the Dickens warden was ousted after a
probe in which Idaho prison health director Don Stockman called the
facility "beyond repair or correction," according to a March 15
report obtained by the AP. GEO, based in Boca Raton, Fla., has said it's
aiming for improvements. "GEO strives to provide quality correctional
and detention management services in a safe and secure environment
consistent with contractual requirements and applicable standards,"
said spokesman Pablo Paez, in a recent e-mail. Still, some prison experts criticize
shipping inmates out-of-state because they move prisoners far from families
and raise questions about conditions at for-profit operations. "The
receiving facility is agreeing to this arrangement as a way to make money,
and so there is always a risk that conditions and safety will be
compromised as a way to cut corners and save money," said Michele
Deitch, a University of Texas professor. Reinke said Idaho prisons are
full, so he has little choice. A prison consultant concluded recently that
Idaho will need room for 5,560 more inmates over the next decade. The cost:
$1 billion dollars. Earlier this year, Idaho made a call for 1,100 more
out-of-state prison beds; Correction Corporation of America, another
private prison company, offered just 240 beds. Idaho is now negotiating a
contract with CCA, to shift 120 inmates in July, and the remaining 120 in
November. The state is also planning construction: It's set to build a $15
million, 300-bed addition at a prison south of Boise by December 2008. A
separate, 400-bed drug treatment prison near Boise is in the works. And in
September, Reinke said he'll unveil a proposal to Idaho lawmakers for a new
2,200-bed private prison _ larger than the 1,500-bed facility he'd
previously considered. "We're at 100 percent right now, as far as
capacity," said Reinke. "We're kind of between a rock and a hard
place."

July 6, 2007 APAfter months alone in his cell, Scot Noble Payne finished 20 pages of
letters, describing to loved ones the decrepit conditions of the prison
where he was serving time for molesting a child. Then Payne used a razor
blade to slice two 3-inch gashes in his throat. Guards found his body in
the cell's shower, with the water still running. "Try to comfort my
mum too and try to get her to see that I am truly happy again," he
wrote his uncle. "I tell you, it sure beats having water on the floor
24/7, a smelly pillow case, sheets with blood stains on them and a stinky
towel that hasn't been changed since they caught me." Payne's suicide
on March 4 came seven months after he was sent to the squalid privately run
Texas prison by Idaho authorities trying to ease inmate overcrowding in
their own state. His death exposed what had been Idaho's standard practice
for dealing with inmates sent to out-of-state prisons: Out of sight, out of
mind. It also raised questions about a company hired to operate prisons in
15 states, despite reports of abusive guards and terrible sanitation.
Hundreds of pages of documents obtained by The Associated Press through an
open-records request show Idaho did little monitoring of out-of-state
inmates, despite repeated complaints from prisoners, their families and a
prison inspector. More than 140,000 U.S. prison beds are in private hands,
and in